Switched
by LadyNoirShipping
Summary: Ladybug and Chat Noir switch bodies due to an akuma attack. Reluctantly having to reveal their identities to each other, the duo now must live each other's lives as they try to find a way to switch back. The switch may not be all that bad though as they learn more about each other than they ever would have before.
1. Chapter 1

Ladybug launched herself into the air, dodging the red and green clad akumatized victim as he barreled forward below her, growling in annoyance at having missed her again. Ladybug and Chat Noir had been on patrol that night and luckily were only a couple buildings over when screams erupted, signalling the creation of an akuma victim. They had managed to make it over and intervene before he was able to get to any of the civilians.

This one was a pudgy teen with curly black hair and an acne ridden face. Upon seeing the heroes he immediately began boasting about his powers and how nobody would have to live in a body they didn't like as long as he was around, but quickly shut up after probably being yelled at by Hawk Moth to not let them know about his abilities. However, he revealed enough for Ladybug and Chat Noir to make sense of what he could do.

He called himself the Switcheroo and he could switch the bodies of any two people just by touching them. That made this battle particularly difficult as Chat Noir and Ladybug didn't know if he only had to touch them with his hands or if just touching him in general could let him switch their bodies, so they decided to play it safe and only attack from a distance.

After Ladybug had successfully leapt over the Switcheroo she flung out her yo-yo and had it wrap around his arm.

"Looks like you're all tied up!" Chat called from his spot on the opposite side of the villain.

Ladybug just rolled her eyes and did a quick scan of his body, searching for the item that the akuma was hiding in, but couldn't pinpoint anything. When she looked back up to the Switcheroo's face she saw him smiling from ear to ear before he grabbed the string of the yo-yo with both hands and yanked on it. Ladybug found herself being pulled in towards him, unable to get her yo-yo free from his grasp.

Just as she was getting closer to him Chat leapt forward and caught her, carrying her bridal style as he brought them both safely to the ground.

"This isn't good," she commented, tugging on the string of her yo-yo to which the Switcheroo only tugged back.

"Don't worry my Lady," Chat said in full confidence, "I just have to knock him to the ground so you can take your yo-yo back."

"And I don't suppose you're planning on doing that when your arms are full?" She shot him an unamused look as she pointed out the fact that he was still carrying her.

Chat replied with his trademark grin as he gently placed her on the ground. He went to kiss her hand but she shoved him towards the Switcheroo, reminding him to focus on the battle. Chat hurtled himself into the air and aimed the end of his staff at the Switcheroo. The staff extended and rammed into the villain, knocking him to the ground and pinning him there.

Ladybug made her way towards him and quickly grabbed her yo-yo before he could lift his arm to touch her. She carefully unwrapped her yo-yo from his arm and took a step back, exchanging a smile with Chat. But then she felt it, the slightest little nudge on the toe of her left foot. She looked down to see the Switcheroo with his hand stretched out as far as it could go, with the very tip of his middle finger just barely grazing her foot.

"I got you," he smiled as his hand was engulfed with a red light. "You know what that means?"

The Switcheroo raised his arm slowly in preparation to touch his chest, trying to add dramatic effect much to Hawk Moth's annoyance.

"Quickly you fool, stop wasting time!" Hawk Moth practically screamed in his ear. "Switch yourself with her and take her miraculous!"

Ladybug and Chat Noir both reacted at the same time, Ladybug once again wrapping her yo-yo around his glowing red arm, and Chat releasing his hold on him and hurtling himself forward.

"As if I would let you switch bodies with my Lady!" He yelled, not realising that Ladybug already had the Switcheroo's arm restrained, grabbing onto his arm and yanking it away from his body.

In an instant, in the time it took to blink, Chat, who had previously been in mid-air with the Switcheroo's hand grasped in his, was now standing on the ground and staring down into the shocked face of the villain.

Ladybug on the other hand, who had been standing on the ground with the Switcheroo's arm restrained with her yo-yo, now found herself in the middle of the air. The shock caused her to lose her grip on whatever it was she was holding as she flew forward and landed harshly on the ground, doing a couple of somersaults before coming to a stop.

She brought a hand up to her aching head, which would have been in a lot worse shape had it not been for the miraculous magic giving her heightened strength and durability.

"What just ha-" She stopped. That wasn't her voice. That was most definitely a boy's voice that came out of her mouth. A twinge of panic began to grow in her chest. Had she switched bodies with the Switcheroo? Did they actually fail? Was Hawk Moth going to win this time?

She turned around and scanned the clearing until her gaze fell on the Switcheroo who was still lying on the ground, staring at her with a look of both rage and shock. The panic in her chest died down, she didn't switch bodies with the Switcheroo. Just as she breathed a sigh of relief her gaze was drawn to the red figure standing beside the Switcheroo, and the panic once again rose in her chest. A spotted red outfit, holding a yo-yo, dark hair pulled back into pigtails. She stared back into the shocked blue eyes of her own face.

 _'But,'_ she thought to herself, _'if I'm there, and the Switcheroo is there, then that means…'_

She looked down at her hands, covered in black gloves with little claws coming from the tips of her nails. She looked back to herself, the expression on her current face probably mirroring that of her original face.

Then she saw her body's mouth begin to move.

"This is a cat-astrophe."

* * *

 **My first ever Miraculous Ladybug fanfic!**

 **This story idea had been in my head for a while now so I'm attempting to finally write it out. It seems like the kind of story idea that can easily get pretty funny at times.**

 **I really hope you enjoy it, and don't be afraid to let me know if there's anything about my writing that's odd or that I cold change.**

 **I hope you enjoyed the first chapter and have a great day!**


	2. Chapter 2

The duo didn't have much time to react to the switch as the now angry villain ripped the yo-yo from his arm and began charging at Chat in Ladybug's body. This was definitely a weird situation, but they had dealt with plenty of weird akuma attacks before and had already learned to quickly accept what had happened and get on with the battle. Besides, once the battle was over everything would go back to normal anyway.

Chat hastily bounded away as the Switcheroo chased after him. He landed beside Ladybug and flashed the villain a smirk.

"Don't think that switching our bodies will make much of a difference, my Lady and I have been partners for a while now and already know each other's attacks and fighting style."

He glanced up at Ladybug to see her smiling just as confidently. She gave him a nod and ran forward, launching herself into the air. Holding Chat's pole downward, she aimed it at the Switcheroo, preparing to extend it into him and knock him off his feet. As she made her way above him she went to shoot the pole forward, but nothing happened. She continued to sail over top of him with nothing happening.

"What…?" She said as she landed behind him, looking down at the pole and giving it a little shake. "Why isn't it working?"

"Don't worry LB, I've got your back!" Chat called as he whipped the yo-yo at the Switcheroo, planning on tying him up with it, but all he succeeded in doing was smacking him in the head, the yo-yo bouncing off his skull and dropping lazily to the ground.

The Switcheroo turned towards Chat, his face as bright as Ladybug's suit and contorted with rage.

"I'm really getting sick of you two!" He roared and charged at red clad hero.

Not knowing what else to do, Chat began to run away from the enraged akuma victim, the unravelled yo-yo dragging behind him.

"A little help!" He called.

"I'm…working…on…it…" Ladybug yelled back as she continuously bashed her hand against it the pole the way you would with a remote that had stopped working. "How do you get this thing to work!"

"I don't know, it just does what I want it to do!" Chat looked behind him and saw the Switcheroo now attempting to grab the yo-yo that was whipping around in the air behind him. He switched his direction and ran towards Ladybug. "Any time now LB!"

Ladybug began shaking the pole furiously. "Just give me a seco-"

She was cut off as the pole suddenly shot out in front of her and towards Chat. He quickly jumped out of the way and the butt of the pole smashed itself right into the Switcheroo's gut. He coughed and fell to the ground clutching his stomach, all the while trying to shoot the heroes a deathly glare.

Chat landed himself beside Ladybug. "Looks like you gut-ted him."

"But now what?" She asked, ignoring his pun and lifting up the now elongated pole which was refusing to shrink back down to its normal size.

Chat just shrugged his shoulders, like he had said before, the pole would always just do what he wanted it to.

The duo continued to watch the Switcheroo struggle to his feet, scanning his body in an attempt to find the akumatized object.

"What about that?" Chat pointed to the front of the costume where the corner of a photo could be seen poking out.

"Good eye, kitty," Ladybug congratulated him with a pat on the back.

"Technically since I'm you now, you should call me by something else. Why not try Bugaboo," he said while flashing her his signature grin, something that looked quite odd when on Ladybug's face.

Ladybug just rolled her eyes and pushed him away. "I'll deal with Switcheroo for now while you summon lucky charm."

"How do I do that?" He stared up at her with a face full of confusion, "We can't use each other's weapons properly, what makes you think we'll be able to use our powers?"

"I'm going out on a limb here, but since our powers both use the miraculous magic I'm assuming they would work the same way. Just do whatever it is you do when summoning cataclysm and hope that it works."

Ladybug turned back to the villain and held the stretched out pole like a baseball bat, swinging it at the Switcheroo. Over and over again, she continued knocking him to the ground as he grew more infuriated with each attack she threw at him.

Chat was tempted to make a baseball pun, but held back as he looked at the yo-yo with confusion, hesitantly throwing it into the air. He imagined himself summoning cataclysm called out 'lucky charm.' Much to his surprise it actually worked and a bright light shot out from the end of the yo-yo, sending down a red and black spotted pouch which he caught.

"What is it?" Ladybug asked without looking back.

He opened the pouch and looked at the contents inside. "Marbles…?"

Ladybug didn't waste any time in scanning the surrounding area. She let her gaze move from the marbles, to the feet of the Switcheroo who was charging towards them, to the large donut shaped sign that stood atop a shop behind them.

"I have a plan. Wait until he gets close then drop the marbles on the ground, I'll take care of the rest."

"Whatever you say," Chat replied with a smile and stood in the path of the Switcheroo. "Over here you bug lug!"

Ladybug leapt on top of the donut shop and stood behind the sign. Holding out her fist she called out 'cataclysm' and a black light engulfed her hand. Just as the Switcheroo was getting dangerously close to Chat, he opened the bag of marbles, spilling the contents onto the ground and jumped away. The Switcheroo didn't have time to react and tripped on the marbles, sending him rolling to a stop in front of the shop.

Ladybug slashed her claws against the metal bars holding the donut sign in place, causing them to rust and snap apart, sending the sign down on top of the Switcheroo. It caught him in the centre circle of the donut, trapping him in place with his arms stuck at his sides.

Ladybug jumped down and landed beside Chat as they admired their handiwork.

"We make a purr-fectly paw-some team even when we're in each other's bodies, don't you agree my Lady?"

Ladybug pinched the bridge of her nose in annoyance and shook her head, the sound of his horrible puns coming from her mouth really irked her. "What's up with you and the puns today?"

"What's the matter my Lady, am I _bugging_ you?" Chat laughed silently to himself and continued. "It's such a rare occasion that I get to hear my Lady say some puns, so I plan to take full advantage of this situation."

Ladybug gave him a slap on the back, pushing him in the direction of the Switcheroo.

"Yes, yes, ok. Now can you purify the akuma and end this already."

Chat gave her a wink, another thing that looked weird coming from her body, before approaching the villain and pulling the photo out of his pocket. It was a picture of a pretty girl that had clearly been taken on a cellphone from a distance while she wasn't looking. He tore the photo in half and the black butterfly emerged from it.

Summoning the same power he had used for lucky charm, he slid his finger along the end of the yo-yo so it opened up into a bright light and swung it around a couple times, sloppily trying to copy what Ladybug always did, then flung it towards the blackened akuma.

When he was finished the yo-yo opened up and released the purified butterfly.

"It was fun while it lasted, but I guess now we'll have to go back to normal." He shrugged, feeling slightly disappointed about it.

When his Lady didn't respond he looked over to her only to find her facing away from him, eyes fixed on something else. She silently raised her hand and pointed at whatever it was she was looking at. Questioningly, he followed her gaze which was settled on the little butterfly that he had just freed.

Upon first glance he couldn't understand why his lady was so focused on it, but upon closer examination his eyes grew wide. Only half of the butterfly shone with the white purified light while the other half remained black, blending in with the dark light of the night.

The butterfly began to fly away but Ladybug quickly cupped it in her black gloved hands before turning to Chat.

"It was your first time purifying an akuma, you probably did something wrong. If you purify it again it should probably be back to normal."

She was trying to sound confident but Chat could hear a hint of uncertainty in her voice. Had Ladybug been in her normal body he probably wouldn't have picked up on it, but he knew his own voice well, and he knew what it sounded like when trying to cover up your true feelings. He silently nodded and tried again, swinging the yo-yo around and catching the butterfly, but when it was released it was still only half purified.

They both stared at it without saying a word.

Chat noticed the fear growing on the face of his original body and decided to remain positive in front of his Lady, although he could also feel the anxiety starting to form in his stomach.

"No need to fret, we'll worry about purifying the akuma after we're back in our own bodies. Although, I can't deny that spending a battle in my Lady's body sure was _miraculous_."

"Just fix this already," Ladybug said, ignoring his lame pun. She was getting worried and just wanted this to all be over.

Chat smiled at her before tossing the now empty bag of marbles into the air. A bright light engulfed it and millions of ladybugs began to swarm around the area, fixing everything that had been affected due to the akuma attack. The donut sign was restored back to its spot above the shop, trash cans were straightened and put back in their places.

The heroes' eyes followed the ladybugs as they did their job. They watched as the ladybugs fixed the damage, watched as they surrounded the Switcheroo, leaving behind a very confused looking teen, and watched as they faded away into the air as if they had never been there in the first place.

The two just continued to stand there and stare at the spot where the ladybugs had disappeared as if any moment now they would materialize again having realized they forgot something very important. Chat even spared a glance over his shoulder, half expecting to find another swarm that was just taking a little longer to get to them, but there was nothing.

"What happened?" The teen asked while clutching his aching head, but the heroes didn't hear him. They just stood there in silence waiting for the little ladybugs to come back to them.

After what felt like an eternity of waiting, they finally dragged their gazes away from the empty street and looked at each other, faces filled with worry. Chat couldn't even come up with a pun.

They were both wondering the same thing. What had made this battle so different? This wasn't the first that an akumatized victim had done something that affected them personally, such as the time that Reflekta made Chat and many others change their appearance to look just like her. Once that battle was over everything had gone back to normal just like it always does. So why? Why weren't they turning back?

Then it struck them, and they both lowered their gazes to stare at the one thing about this battle that had been different from all the others.

The half purified akuma.

* * *

 **The second chapter is now up! This is where the story really begins since now the two have finally realized that their stuck in each others bodies.** **I have so many ideas of things I want to happen in this story and now I just have to plan out when they're gonna take place.**

 **Thank you to everyone who favourited, followed and reviewed this story! Knowing that people are actually enjoying it encourages me to keep writing it!**

 **If there's anything you want me to change about my writing that's weird, or if the characters seem too OOC, then don't hesitate to let me know**

 **Enjoy your day! ^.^**


	3. Chapter 3

Ladybug's eyes were fixated on the little butterfly cupped in her hands, half of it was a pure white that illuminated in the darkness and the other half was a deep purplish black. Faintly, in some distant part of her consciousness, she thought she could hear Chat saying something, possibly asking her if she knew what was going on, but her brain had tuned him out. In that moment all she could focus on was that butterfly.

It wasn't until a rough jerking brought her back to her senses, staring down into her – or rather, Chat's – light blue eyes. His hands were clasped around her arms and a look of concern was spread across his face. Concern about what happened or concern over her out of character response to it all? Probably both she concluded.

Upon seeing her snap out of her trance, Chat loosened his grip.

"Ladybug, are you with me?"

She nodded, not sure of what to say in this situation. The akuma wasn't purifying fully which meant they had to change back if they wanted to do so, but they couldn't change back unless the akuma was purified. No matter how you looked at it that was an impossible scenario, how were they supposed to fix this!

Chat recognized the panic rising once more in Ladybug's face and quickly shook her again to keep her with him.

"Ladybug, listen to me, it's going to be fine. We've been in a lot of sticky situations before but we've always made it through. We'll figure something out, we'll fix this, so don't worry."

He forced a smile but was growing increasingly worried over Ladybug's reaction. He had never seen her like this. Ever! Not when Lady WI-FI almost exposed their identities or even when she jumped into a dinosaur's mouth! She was always the one with a plan no matter how reckless, and her plans always worked. When looking at Ladybug's panicked and lost expression, Chat knew that she had no clue how to solve this.

That's why she needed him the most right now. He may not be the one who came up with the solutions, but he was the one who always provided her with the opportunity to think. In battle he was the one who distracted the enemy while she tried to figure out a way to take them down. This couldn't be much different, right? He had to distract her from her worries so she could think of a way to solve this. But could she solve this?

The duo were both so transfixed in their own thoughts that it seemed as though nothing could drag them out, nothing except the one sound that they could never ignore because it had been ingrained into their memories. The sound when both their miraculous beeped.

They were pulled out of their trances and instinctively went to check their miraculous, Chat peering down at his ringless finger and Ladybug grabbing her earlobes where her earrings would normally be. They both lowered their arms upon remembering their situation.

"What should we do?" Chat asked.

Ladybug shook her head in frustration, but tried keep the Marinette side of her from showing. "I don't know, but for now we need to go somewhere private."

Chat nodded and they made their way through the streets of Paris, deciding it would be better to walk than get themselves stranded on the top of a building once they detransformed. Though the streets were bright, lit with streetlamps and the glow from windows of shops open throughout the night, the duo turned down a lone alleyway and were soon engulfed in darkness. Ladybug led the way with her new ability of night vision while Chat stumbled along behind her, letting out quiet complaints as he tripped on everything he came across.

Ladybug abruptly stopped when the last beep from her ring signaled, Chat colliding into her back.

"Why did we come so far in, I can't see a thing?" Chat questioned, blindly waving his hand in front of his face as if to make a point.

"So we don't see each other when we revert back," she said as though it was obvious.

Chat stared in the direction he thought she was in with a confused look on his face. "But won't we only see ourselves once we change back?"

Ladybug let his words sink in before releasing a frustrated groan and would have done a face palm had she not been carrying the butterfly in her hands. How had she not realized it sooner, they were in each other's bodies so obviously they wouldn't be able to see each other once they returned to normal. Was she still not thinking straight even though she made sure to go into her Ladybug mode? She shook the thought aside.

"It doesn't matter, I always carry cookies in my bag so we can just feed out kwamis and transform back right away. Then we can deal with the akuma."

"Cookies?" Chat was growing increasingly more confused. "My kwami eats camembert."

"Camembert?"

He nodded. "You know, the cheese. My kwami only eats camembert."

"What?" Ladybug threw her arms up in annoyance, "why does he only eat camembert!" This was ridiculous, where were they supposed to get camembert at one in the morning!

Chat simply shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine, I ask him that same question nearly every day."

Ladybug was about to make another comment but she was cut off as their bodies were engulfed into a bright light. As the light traveled across her body she could feel her senses dull, the sounds and smells around her growing faint.

As quickly as it had started, the blinding light disappeared and Marinette was thrown into the darkness. A small shape fell from above her and landed on her head with a groan. In front of her she saw Tikki being caught by Chat. The little kwami emitted a faint light that was only enough for herself to be seen in the darkness.

Chat brought her up close to his face. "So you're Ladybug's kwami? It's nice to meet you."

She returned the greeting and introduced herself, giving him a smile but worry could be clearly seen on her face.

Marinette had her hands full and couldn't scoop up the kwami on her head so instead she just glanced up to talk to him.

"Hi, what's your name?"

"I'm Plagg, do you have any cheese?" He replied in a very bored like manner that caused Marinette to frown. Something told her Chat's kwami was going to be very different from hers.

Adrien looked down at Tikki. "I take it you don't know how to solve this situation any more than we do?"

She shook her head. "Nothing like this has ever happened before, I'll need some time to try and think this through."

Marinette glanced back up to the kwami resting on her head. "Do you have any ideas?"

"I wouldn't count on Plagg to be of any use," Adrien stated bluntly.

"Neither would I," Tikki added.

Plagg shrugged and leaned back in Marinette's hair, making himself comfortable. "They've got a point you know."

Marinette, impressed with their reactions, turned to Tikki. "Eat up quickly and transform. I may not be able to right now, but you're the only one able to purify the butterfly anyways."

Adrien looked at her with a solemn expression.

"Ladybug, I don't think this is something that we can solve right away. We should take some time to think things through and come up with a plan to solve this."

"Then what you're saying is..." She didn't have to finish her sentence, she knew exactly what he was going to say next and the very thought weighed heavily in the pit of her stomach.

"We have to reveal our identities." He spoke with a serious demeanor, something that Marinette never knew Chat could be. He had always be the openly carefree one between the both of them.

Adrien continued. "I know this isn't something you want to do, and I've respected your decision up to this point, but now we don't really have a choice anymore. We have to at least go home and pretend to be each other so as to avoid out families calling the police to send out search parties."

She hated it, but he was right. She knew that this was their only option, and as Ladybug she couldn't let her personal opinions get in the way of her job as a hero of Paris. She gave him a curt nod and asked how he supposed they should go about it.

Adrien though for a moment. "Well, we could either tell each other who we are, or we could look for a mirror maybe."

"We should probably go with the mirror option," Marinette concluded. "I highly doubt we know each other in real life so just tell each other our names wouldn't do anything."

"You don't know that, we might possibly know each other. Hey, we might even go to the same school," he suggested.

Marinette rolled her eyes at that. "Chat, do you know how many schools are in Paris? What do you think the odds are that we would go to the same one?"

Plagg let out a snort from on top of Marinette's head. She raised her eyes upwards to where he lay.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing, nothing. You two keep doing what you're doing," he said while shooing off the question.

The two heroes decided to ignore him and continued on. They stopped by the first open store they could find and bought a small box to temporarily put the butterfly in, when they then stored in the bag that Tikki was kept in.

Afterwards they found a little boutique with bright lights shining from the window and a sign advertising that it was open 24 hours. Adrien brought up the changing rooms and how they could use the mirrors in them. They looked to each other and nodded in a silent agreement, then pushed through the doors.

Inside the store clerk, who was drinking a coffee, cocked an eyebrow upon seeing the two enter. She probably didn't get many customers at this hour, more so a couple of teenagers. Adrien located the change rooms and made his way towards them, grabbing the first article of clothing he passed as an excuse to use them, with Marinette following nervously behind. Just as they approached the front of the changing rooms section, Marinette stopped before they could go any further, a blush forming on her cheeks.

"I'm not so sure I want to do this here," she paused to take in their surroundings, "is a change room really our only option? Shouldn't we be doing this somewhere else?"

Adrien turned around to look at her. "We don't have much if a choice, there's not that many places for us to do it."

Marinette avoided his gaze. "But…"

Taking her hands in his, Adrien looked her in the eyes. "Listen, I know for a fact that being inside of me won't be easy for you, but-"

Their conversation was cut short as the clerk choked on her coffee and stared back at them in disbelief. Her eyes, wide as saucers, moved from the nervous blonde boy with an uneasy look on his face, to the girl who held his hands and continuously tried to coax him into the changing room, a skimpy piece of lingerie draped over her arm.

"Hey!" She barked at the pigtailed girl after finally regaining her ability to speak. "Stop trying to force your boyfriend into doing weird things in a public change room! I'm sure there's rules against whatever it is you're planning."

Marinette's face grew terrified, but not exactly for the right reasons. "B-b-boyfriend!" She stuttered.

Beside her Adrien hastily lifted his arms up in surrender. "It's not what you think, I swear! We weren't planning on doing anything of the sort!"

The clerk glared and shifted her gaze between the two, not knowing how to react. Should she just kick them out? Her eyes settled on the boy as he began to speak up.

"He-SHE'S telling the truth, we weren't planning anything…weird. I think you must have misinterpreted what we were talking about."

With a grumble and a warning about kicking them out if she hears anything suspicious, the clerk let them into the aisle of changing rooms. When they were sure she wasn't looking, the two chose the furthest room away and quickly closed the door behind them.

Adrien hung up the clothing he had on a hanger and Marinette's felt her eyes explode out of their sockets.

"Why did you choose _that_!" She squealed.

Adrien looked at the article of clothing he had chosen out for the first time and jumped.

"I don't know, I just chose the first thing we walked past!" The garment was a deep red, the colour of Ladybug's suit, with black laces.

A smirk grew on Adrien's face as his Chat side decided to emerge and make a comment about the situation. "But I don't think I would mind it if my Lady were to wear th-"

Her glare shut him up.

They stood with their backs to the door where a large mirror hung. Marinette took a deep breath, she didn't want to do this. Why had she always been so adamant on them not revealing their identities? Part of it was due to self-consciousness, believing that Marinette wasn't good enough to be Ladybug, but the other part of her also didn't want to ruin their perfect partnership. She had always felt that revealing their identities would cause conflict and awkwardness between them. But at this point they had no other options, it was either reveal themselves now or not find out until someone they know calls out to them.

"On three," she said, to which he nodded. She counted up slowly, taking a deep breath with each number as each second that ticked by brought a new wave of butterflies through her stomach. When she reached three, the both turned around and came face-to-face with their real identities.

The first thing she noticed were his green eyes, the eyes which she had spent hours ogling at on her wall, then her gaze travelled over his familiar blonde hair which was swept smoothly to the side, very much unlike Chat's more messy style. As she took in the face that stared back at her, a single name ran itself through her head and caught in her throat. _Adrien._

The silence was deafening, wrapping itself around her like a strangling python until she suddenly became aware that she couldn't breathe. Was she going into shock? No, she had to calm down. But how could she, this wasn't possible, Chat couldn't be Adrien!

"Marinette?" Adrien's voice, barely above a whisper, brought her attention to him though his gaze was still fixed on her image in the mirror. "You've been Ladybug this entire time?"

He tiled his head up in her direction, a small smile playing on his lips. "What was that you said about highly doubting we would know each other in real life?"

She startled at his comment which clearly did not match the situation and shot him a glare, if that's what it could even be called anyway. The look she gave him both showed that she was highly unimpressed with his statement but at the same time was too distracted with her newfound knowledge to actually make a comment about it.

She turned back to the mirror and spoke in a nearly inaudible voice. "Adrien was the one person who I thought couldn't possibly be Chat."

Adrien took in what she said and also turned back to his reflection. He had also never considered that Marinette could be ladybug, though it was mostly due to their different personalities. Who could have guessed the clumsy girl in his class who could barely form a sentence around him was Ladybug? He nodded in agreement before a smirk formed on his lips.

"I guess you could say we were all _mixed up._ "

"Chat!" Marinette faced him and glared angrily, "this isn't the time for that!"

Could he not read the mood!

Chat however only snickered to himself, obviously pleased with his choice of words. She was about to make another comment but then realization struck her and she turned her head to once again face the reflection of Adrien that stared back at her, his mouth hanging open in a very Marinette like way.

"This entire time Adrien has been the one flirting with me. Adrien has been the one making all those lame puns." Her mind jumped back and forth between the two realizations "Adrien, flirting with me! The puns!"

What should she feel more strongly about, which one was a bigger deal? Adrien had been the one flirting with her, meaning Adrien had a crush on her! Should she be happy? But-but the puns! No, it was impossible! A creepy smile spread on her face and she let out a dry laugh.

"Adrien would never make puns like that, so you can't be Adrien."

Adrien scratched his head and glanced up at her. "But Adrien's the one who writes down puns in his free time."

Marinette couldn't believe it, resting her now throbbing head in her hands she went over it again. Adrien was Chat. She peeked at him between her fingers. What was his reaction to all this? Marinette glanced down at him again with a quizzical look. He stood there staring at his reflection of her in the mirror, the faintest smile playing on his lips. He didn't seem to be in the same mental state as her. While she was shocked and in denial, he continued to act as though nothing was wrong, like this was something he went through on a daily basis.

"Are you even taking this seriously?" Marinette shot at him with annoyance tinged in her voice.

Adrien looked at her confused, he was taking this seriously. Maybe couldn't tell because of his trained ability to mask how he was feeling, but in reality he had a flood of emotions flowing through him. Things between him and Marinette had always been fairly awkward, she had always acted strangely around him so he had never really known how to act around her either. Just the thought of Marinette being Ladybug made him a little nervous, leaving him to wonder how their relationship would be affected from this. But, more than anything, he was actually relieved. Shocked, yes, but relieved that Marinette was Ladybug.

It wasn't as though he was picky about who his partner truly was, he had told himself that he would love her with or without the mask, but obviously there were some limitations to that statement. There was a reason he had been more than a little worried when Alya had suggested that Chloe was Ladybug. He had fallen in love with his Lady because of the person she was and the traits that she possessed, traits which Chloe clearly lacked. He loved his Lady for who she was, and if her civilian self was anyone similar to Chloe then his feelings towards her would probably change.

But Marinette on the other hand. Sure, he didn't know much about her but he still knew enough. He had been so willing to set her up with Nino because he knew she was a good person, someone who was kind and truly cared for those around her. More than once had he witnessed her standing up for her classmates when Chloe was being a nuisance, or going out of her way to help or encourage them when they needed it. Marinette made the perfect Ladybug.

Marinette sighed and placed her hand on her head, this was too much to take in for one night. "What are we supposed to do now?"

"We'll have to go home," Adrien replied.

"You mean to each other's homes, don't you." She couldn't help but let her gaze fall as he simply nodded in reply.

As much as she didn't want to do this, he was right. It wasn't as if they could just hide out someplace until they found a way to change back, so they would just have to put up with it until they did. But Marinette didn't know how much more of this she could take.

She silently followed Adrien out of the store and to a secluded spot where he opened the little purse at his waist, allowing Tikki to fly out. A numb chill spread across her skin as she watched him transform with her little kwami into Ladybug. He offered his hand to her which she took and was drawn in close to him where he secured his arm safely around her waist. The chill spread further causing her to release a shiver.

Her and Chat were no strangers when it came to physical contact, but suddenly it felt awkward for them to be this close. Marinette's reaction didn't go unnoticed to her partner. It caused his heart to sink, but he opted to ignore that feeling as he made a series of flips and jumps off the walls of buildings around them until he was standing on top of the tallest one.

With a running start he flew above Paris, bounding from one building to the next just a shadowed figure that went unnoticed to the illuminated city below. Wind whipped past their faces, not bringing the usual thrill of excitement that it usually did, the feeling of being free to go wherever they wanted to go and do whatever they wanted to do never crossed their minds that night.

Marinette's mind was blank and she didn't realize where they were until they began approaching a house, his house, the large mansion that stared back at her. Chat made his way into a window, bringing them inside a dark room, his bedroom she assumed. Just earlier that day she would have died to be able to enter Adrien's room, but now she wished for nothing more than to curl up under the covers of her bed and wake up from this dream.

Adrien started at her for a moment, eyes glowing in the faint light that shone in from outside.

"Will you be alright?"

She nodded.

"Then I'll be leaving now. We'll talk more in the morning, okay?"

She nodded again.

He uncertainly made his way towards the open window, not feeling like he should be leaving her in that state, but knowing he had to go. With a final glance back at her as she seated herself on his large white couch, he leapt through the window and into the night.

* * *

 **This chapter turned out to be A LOT longer than I thought. It had seemed pretty short in my head but I guess I was wrong.**

 **I'm not exactly happy with how the reveal went. I had a certain idea in my mind about how I wanted it to go but I don't think I did a very good job of writing it out, I just really hope it's not disappointing.**

 **I'm really into this story and enjoying writing it, more than I thought as I've been writing out parts of it in class instead of taking notes. I already have several chapters planned out and a couple scenes from them written down.**

 **I owe a great thanks to everyone who followed and favourited and I loved every comment, it makes me glad that so many people are enjoying this story so far and encourages me to complete it!**

 **Storylady35, you made me laugh my ass off XD**

 **I really hope you enjoyed this update, next chapter our heroes have school where they really start feeling the effects of being in each other's bodies!**


	4. Chapter 4

**I'll just let everyone know now that I haven't watched the origin episodes, so you don't have to worry about any spoilers. I don't actually think that anything that happens in this story will be related to anything that would even be in the origin episodes, but I just thought I should let you know.**

* * *

Adrien lay wide awake in the dark, as if he could sleep after what had happened that night. He found it too awkward to be in Marinette's bed, so instead he had opted for laying on her chaise. He had lain there for hours with his mind running on overdrive as he went over the events of the night before over and over.

When the early morning light finally began to filter in from the windows Adrien got up and stood in front of Marinette's mirror. He had taken her hair out of its pigtails before lying down and now it hung loosely just past her shoulders. He lifted up one of her dark locks and twisted it lightly between his fingers, the image of Marinette in the mirror copying his every action.

 _'Marinette is Ladybug.'_

The night before, perhaps due to the adrenaline caused from all the bizarre events, he hadn't truly taken in that thought. With the whole body swap incident which was followed by the sudden identity reveal, it was as though his brain didn't fully process everything until now. It wasn't until he spent the night replaying the events that happened when it truly started to sink in, when he finally started to realize that _Marinette_ was Ladybug.

How had he not seen it before, were they really both that blind? Her hair, her eyes, the light splash of freckles across her nose. Appearance wise, everything about her screamed 'Ladybug.' Not only had Ladybug been his classmate, but she had been sitting behind him the entire time! He mentally slapped himself, what sort of coincidence was that!

The thought of seeing her at school later that day caused a flutter of anxiety in his stomach. When he saw her would they communicate the way Ladybug and Chat would or would they forever be the shy Marinette and Adrien who felt awkward around each other?

A small yawn startled him from his thoughts, turning around to see the little red kwami beginning to wake up. How she could possibly sleep after what had happened the night before was beyond him.

"Morning," he smiled and approached her.

Tikki, who had been rubbing the sleep from her eyes, stopped and stared at him with wide eyes and her mouth hanging open as if _this_ was the most shocking thing she had ever seen. More so than his little body swap. He gave her a confused look.

"Sorry," she said, shaking her head and smiling, "it's just that I'm not used to seeing Mari up this early. She usually wakes up late and has to rush to school." Tikki brought her hand up to her mouth and let out a little giggle to which Adrien smiled. She was definitely a lot cuter than Plagg.

With a laugh, Adrien cupped the small kwami in his hands. "Come on, I don't think it's so shocking that you need to react like that when you see her awake this early."

"No, really," Tikki said in all seriousness, "sometimes I'm worried that when winter comes around Marinette will just curl up and hibernate throughout the entire season."

Adrien smiled. "Well I can guarantee you that last night she probably didn't get a wink of sleep after what happened."

 **~.~.~.~.~**

She couldn't help it, she was a nervous sleeper!

One moment she had been awkwardly sitting on Adrien's couch in the dark room, the next she was startled awake by a loud knocking at the door and the voice of a lady informing her that she was late.

Marinette rolled off the couch, slammed onto the floor, scrambled to her feet, stubbed her toe on something she couldn't see in the early morning light, and hurriedly limped her way to the door. Plagg groggily watched the scene before him having woken up due to the racket Marinette was making.

It wasn't until Marinette hobbled by Adrien's bed and saw the small digital clock on his night side table when her brain finally started to think instead of just react. The numbers that glowed in the dim light read that it was only 6 a.m. Late! Late for what? Was this person crazy! She sighed, placing a hand to her aching head, and stumbled her way to the door.

The lady standing outside the door had black hair pulled into a bun and glasses resting neatly on her face. Her expression was blank and emotionless, whether she had heard the racket Marinette made was impossible to tell.

"You were late for breakfast so I came up to check if everything was alright," she said in a very straight and stiff manner.

"Oh uh…yeah, everything's great!" Marinette said, raising both her thumbs to accentuate her point.

The lady only cocked her eyebrow at this, her face remaining the same. "Very well, but please do inform me if you feel unwell at any time."

"Ok, thanks for worrying about me…uh…" Marinette paused, searching for a name but soon realizing that she had no clue who this lady was. "Well, thanks anyways! I'll let you know if anything comes up!"

With that she quickly slammed the door in her face and turned to Plagg.

"Who was that?" Marinette asked once she was sure the lady's footsteps had faded.

"Her? That's Nathalie, Adrien's dad's assistant. You'll be seeing a lot of her so get used to it," Plagg replied absentmindedly as he scoured empty cheese wrappings on Adrien's desk and garbage can, hoping to find a piece he may have missed.

"I can't believe this is happening," Marinette groaned, resting her face in her hands and sinking to the floor.

She wrapped her arms around her legs and placed her chin on them, watching Plagg as he ignored her to continue his pursuit for food. Marinette wished more than ever that Tikki was there. Her kwami always knew just what to say to cheer her up, always had words of encouragement to let her know that she could fix this and everything would get better. The thought of not being with Tikki only lowered her mood.

"I take it you're not much of a conversationalist," she mumbled into her arms.

Plagg turned to her and sneered. "I'll have you know that I can hold quite a conversation when the topic is about cheese."

Marinette rolled her eyes. How did Adrien put up with him every day?

She knew she couldn't just sit there all day and would have to head down eventually, so she might as well make it now. She stood up with determination and stalked over to Adrien's dresser, knowing that she would have to change clothes at some point.

"Alright," she breathed and closed her eyes, "you can do this."

Saying she wasn't feeling flustered was an understatement, but being Ladybug she knew she had to be reasonable and know how to handle even the strangest of situations. Being honest with herself, she knew that if Chat Noir had been anyone else then she wouldn't have many problems or strong feelings about their situation. However, the fact that Chat was Adrien and that she was now in Adrien's body was the real cause of her anxiety and nervousness. Heck, she even had trouble talking to him when she was Ladybug! It was better than when she was Marinette, but still awkward.

Opening her eyes, she turned to the black kwami who had floated over to watch her.

"Which drawers does Adrien keep his shirts and pants in?"

Plagg pointed to the top drawer. She opened it, but let out a yelp and quickly slammed it shut again, glaring daggers at the little kwami who was now beside himself with laughter.

"What?" He laughed out while wiping imaginary tears from his eyes, "you have to change your underwear eventually."

She could feel a blush forming on her cheeks both from anger and embarrassment. "It'll be fine just changing his clothes for now, we'll probably have this problem sorted out by the end of the day anyway."

This caused Plagg to stop laughing as he looked at her seriously for the first time. He was surprised that Ladybug of all people saw this as nothing, as though it was something that could be solved easily.

"I hate to be the devil's advocate, but what if you don't figure out a way to change back by the end of the day? What if this is permanent?"

Marinette turned away from him, ignoring the questions, and continued to search for clothes. No matter what she had to remain optimistic, it was all she could count on. There's no way this could be a long term thing, right?

Finding what she was looking for, she closed her eyes and swiftly threw off Adrien's clothes and pulled the clean ones on. It only took a couple of seconds and she kept her eyes closed the entire time, but she couldn't stop the hot blush on her cheeks. If yesterday she was told that she would be dressing Adrien she would have, well, she would have probably jumped with joy to be truthful, but now she really wasn't as happy as she would have been, just embarrassed.

Finally finished getting ready, Marinette left Adrien's room and made her way through the long hallways with Plagg guiding her towards the dining room. She entered a large room with the longest table she had ever seen, it could probably seat her entire class and still have plenty of room to spare.

Nathalie stood at one end with a clipboard and looked up at Marinette as she entered, there was a plate of food in front of the chair that Nathalie stood beside. Marinette made her way around the table and hesitantly sat in the chair, not really paying attention to the food in front of her.

Nathalie began reading off of the clipboard as Marinette stared around the room in confusion.

"Where's everybody else?" She asked, interrupting Nathalie who peered at her from over the clipboard with an annoyed expression.

"What do you mean?" She questioned.

Marinette looked across the large, empty table that stretched out before her. "Isn't anyone else going to be joining us? What about my dad? What's the point of such a bug table if it's just me?"

"Your father is too busy to sit down and eat." Nathalie's answered bluntly, only responding to one of Marinette's questions.

Marinette would have questioned the lady further but from her expression she could tell that she probably wouldn't be able to get any more information out of her. Considering she was supposed to be Adrien at the moment she assumed that it was expected she already know how meals work in his house. Instead she just gave the woman a light nod to show she understood. Nathalie handed her the clipboard with Adrien's schedule and excused herself, her footsteps echoing in the large and empty room as she left.

As soon as Nathalie was gone, Plagg left his spot from inside Marinette's shirt and started devouring some cubes of cheese from the plate, Adrien had already informed the chefs a while back that he always wanted cheese served with all of his meals. Marinette looked from the plate of food to the long table the stretched out before her. She couldn't help a feeling sadness spread that in the pit of her stomach as she sat there in that empty room.

"Are meals here always this lonely?" She asked softly, thinking of Adrien sitting there every day by himself.

"Cheer up kid, it's not too bad once you get used to it. At least, that what Adrien always tells me." His words only seemed to lower Marinette's mood as her face grew solemn. He looked down at the piece of cheese he held, then back up at her. Flying up in front of her face he stretched out his arms. "Cheese always makes me feel better."

Marinette couldn't stop herself from giggling at his attempt to cheer her up as she took the small cube of cheese from him. "Thanks."

As the kwami went back to eating his cheese Marinette looked around the room again. Was this really normal for Adrien, sitting around in this giant house all alone? What about before he was Chat Noir, when Plagg wasn't there to keep him company? Never before had there been a time when she felt so alone like she did now. She was always surrounded by others, the thought of craving human contact had never crossed her mind before.

Not knowing else who she could talk to, she reached her hand into Adrien's pocket and pulled out his phone, staring at it for a moment before reluctantly dialing her own number.

 **~.~.~.~.~**

Adrien had done a quick scan of Marinette's room looking for a landline phone, but came up with nothing. He assumed that they should probably talk sometime before school started to go over how they should act, but it wasn't until then that he realized that he had no means of contacting her.

He looked down at Marinette's cell phone in his hand, the screen stating that he was locked out for five minutes due to entering the wrong passcode too many times.

Just as he sighed and put the phone down, a song tune erupted from it causing Adrien to jump.

Looking at the screen he recognized his own number and answered the phone.

"Marinette?" He asked

"H-hi," she said softly.

The two fell into an awkward silence, neither one knowing what to say.

Adrien finally spoke up first, not sure how to start the conversation. "So, I guess you must have figured out my password then, if you're able to call me that is."

There was silence on the other end as Marinette began to panic internally, she hadn't thought twice when unlocking his phone and was caught off guard when he mentioned it.

"Yes, that's it!" She said hastily in order to cover up her suspicious pause. "I guess I got really lucky, I am Ladybug after all, luck is my middle name!"

Adrien smiled, her awkward response somehow putting him more at ease. "That is true."

"So…" Marinette was only now realizing that she had no idea what to say to him having only called in the first place because of her desire to talk to someone.

"School," he said, "we should go over what to do at school."

"Right!" She decided it best to just go with what he said instead of telling him his house made her lonely. Adrien did have a point though, everyone at school would be expecting them to act as they normally do. Anything different would rise suspicion.

She thought about it for a moment before replying. "I think it would be best if we don't talk too much to each other at school. We don't normally communicate too often and if we started now then some people, namely Alya, might get suspicious."

Adrien hummed in agreement, he wouldn't put it past Alya to notice even the slightest of changes in her best friend's behaviour. Then he remembered another person who would notice a sudden shift in his behaviour.

"Oh, Chloe!" He could hear Marinette make a hiss of annoyance, but continued anyway. "I know you don't like Chloe very much, but you shouldn't make it that obvious when you're in my body. She may not pick up on your dissatisfaction of her when you're Ladybug, but she'll be expecting me to act like I always do with her."

There was silence on the other end which was followed by a long sigh.

"Fine, but I won't be happy about it."

Adrien nodded to himself, feeling relieved that Marinette agreed and he wouldn't have to worry about Chloe finding anything suspicious.

They returned to an awkward silence after that.

"I guess we should just meet up after school to go over how we'll change back," Adrien said, "but we'll have to do it quickly because I have a photoshoot later tonight."

There was the sound of shifting papers coming from the other end as Marinette looked through his schedule for the day, having not been paying attention when Nathalie had read it to her. There it was, just as Adrien had said, a photoshoot. Marinette inwardly groaned, hoping that they could be changed back before then.

The two agreed on how they were going to act around each other and their classmates, Marinette gave Adrien her password while warning him to only use it for calling people, then they said their goodbyes and hung up.

Adrien put down the phone and went to get ready for the day, but it was then that he came face to face his first problem being in Marinette's body. Standing in front of her mirror he held up a red hair tie and stared at her loose hair.

He could do this, it couldn't be that hard, wasn't it just like using an elastic band? He grabbed a bundle of her dark hair and put the band around it, twisting it a few times until it stayed in place, then did the same for the rest of her hair.

He stood back to admire his work, face full of pride. See, he could do anything! But his face soon dropped upon seeing his reflection. Marinette's hair was a mess. The elastics were too low and not tight enough so her hair fell limply to the sides. It was also uneven as he had put too much hair in her left pigtail, leaving the right one with barely anything. Honestly, it looked as though a three year old had done the job.

He quickly pulled the elastics out and tried again. This time his hair was a little more evened out, but the hair ties were still too loose. He tried pulling on them to bring them closer to his head, but when he did so he also pulled the hair up with them causing some strands to stick out from the pigtails. He let out a huff of frustration and pulled the elastics out again and ran a brush through her now messy hair.

Once again he attempted to do this impossible task. He scooped up half of it and held it tight to the side as he tied the elastic around it, then swiftly did the same for the other side. This time his left pigtail was up at the side of his head like a handlebar while the other still hung loosely by his shoulder.

He ripped the hair ties out and released another frustrated groan, was this what some girls meant whenever they said it took hours to get ready? He tried again, this time trying to tighten the elastics as much as possible. He attempted to turn his head to look at the hair but failed and the end result looked no better from the others.

"This is impossible!" He complained as he once again brushed the knots he had made out of Marinette's hair. "How do people make this look so easy? How does anyone with ponytails make it to school on time?"

He was considering just forgetting the hair and going to school with Marinette's hair down, when Tikki let out a laugh from behind him and picked up the elastic which he had angrily discarded onto the floor. He watched in awe as the little kwami neatly parted Marinette's hair and tied the elastic around it, then did the same for the other side.

She flew back once she was finished and he stared at her handiwork. His hair looked was looked exactly like how Marinette always wore it.

"How did you do that?" He asked in astonishment.

Tikki just smiled at him. "I told you, Mari always wakes up late. Usually I end up doing her hair while she frantically gets ready."

The two exchanged smiles before Tikki flew into Marinette's bag which Adrien placed around his shoulder as he made his way down the trap door on the floor.

"Aren't you going to get changed? You're wearing the same clothes that Marinette wore yesterday." Tikki asked, popping her head out of the bag.

Adrien rubbed the back of his head with pink cheeks. "I think it's probably best this way, and I doubt Lady- I mean Marinette would want me changing her clothes. It's only for a day so there shouldn't be anything wrong with keeping them on."

Tikki looked at him uncertainly, having similar thoughts with what Plagg had mentioned to Marinette about their situation not being something easy to fix. She only sighed, deciding it was better for him to have confidence about this problem, and popped her head back inside the bag.

Adrien had just entered the bakery when a voice spoke up from across the room.

"Nice to see you up so early for a change."

He looked over his shoulder to see Sabine smiling at him as she arranged pastries on a tray. He flashed her a quick smile to avoid suspicion.

"Yeah, I wanted to get to school early today."

He turned back around and nervously started to head towards the door again when a large hand rested on his shoulder and twisted him around, causing him to face the man he knew as Marinette's father. Tom raised his other hand and rested it on Adrien's forehead.

"Heading off to school early, are you sure you're not sick Mari?"

Tom had a humorous grin on his face that caused a feeling of jealously and sadness to well up in Adrien's chest. When was the last time his own father had asked about his health? He knew Tom was only joking, but it still stirred his feelings to have someone care about him. Forcing a smile on his face like he was used to doing when masking his feelings, he brushed the larger hand away from him and let out a light laugh.

"I'm fine…" he paused for a moment before adding, "dad."

Tom smiled and reached his hand to the counter behind him then brought it back, placing something in Adrien's hands. Adrien looked down and realized that he held a crisp, golden brown croissant.

"Don't forget to eat something," Tom said.

Adrien could feel his eyes grow wide as he stared down at the large, fluffy pastry that had been placed in his hands and felt his mouth begin to water. It was still warm! The intoxicating aroma drifted up to his nose and excitement welled up inside of him. He couldn't help the large smile that spread across his face as he looked up at Tom and beamed.

"Thank you so much!"

Tom laughed and ruffled the hair that Tikki had done for him not too long ago. "I've never seen you this excited about eating a croissant before. I hope you enjoy it."

Adrien nodded his head furiously. As he was imagining what the little piece of heaven in his hands was going to taste like, he was pulled into an unexpected bear hug. He was taken off guard by the sudden action. He was hugged by Chloe on a daily basis and he hugged his friends occasionally, but this wasn't like those hugs, it was one filled with the warmth and love of a family member. It seemed like forever since he had last felt this sort of feeling. He hadn't felt this way ever since his mother…

The warmth burned in his chest and Adrien wasn't sure of how to react; should he hug Tom back or just continue to stand there awkwardly? He never did get his chance to react because in an instant the hug was over and Tom stood back with a smile on his face. Adrien thought he heard Tom say something about having a nice day at school, but he wasn't concentrating on his words.

The moment Tom had pulled away, he felt the warmth slowly seep out of him and a tinge of sadness spread throughout his stomach. Adrien yearned for that warmth to return, the warmth and love of a family that cared for him, the warmth and love that his father had failed to provide.

Tom's curious look at Adrien's obvious downcast expression brought him back to his senses. Waving a quick goodbye to Marinette's parents he ran out the door. When he was a distance away from the bakery he stopped and was about to return to his thoughts on the hug, but then he remembered the croissant in his hand.

All other thoughts draining from his mind, he started down at the pastry in all its baked glory. The last time he had the chance to try Tom's croissants Marinette had shooed her father away, but not this time! It felt like a shame eating something so perfect, but he could have cared less as he went to take a large bite out of one end. It was in that moment, just before his teeth closed around the freshly baked pastry, when a couple of kids pushed past him causing him to lose his grip on the croissant as it was flung out of his hands.

It was as though the world was moving in slow motion. Adrien stared in shock as his true love sailed through the air and landed neatly on the road. Tikki popped her head out of Marinette's bag and stared at the croissant laying on the road, then up at Adrien with pity.

"That's a shame."

"I'm still eating it." Adrien said with determination laced in his voice as he strode towards the road.

Tikki made a disgusted face. "But it's dirty."

"Something like that won't stop me."

Adrien had just reached the curb when a car whizzed by, causing him to leap back. When he was finally able to return to the road, he stared down in horror. Tikki followed his gaze and her eyes settled on the now flattened croissant. Adrien fell to his knees and stared at the pastry with the same look one would use if that had been their kitten instead of a piece of bread. He hesitantly scooped the pastry up into his hands, half of it breaking off and falling back onto the road, and placed it on the grass in front of him, mourning the loss.

All Tikki could think of doing was pat his arm and tell him everything would be alright, that Marinette lived in a bakery and he would have plenty of chances to eat croissants.

 **~.~.~.~.~**

Marinette had just stepped out of the car that dropped her off at school. Before she even got the chance to mentally prepare herself for the day that awaited her, she was attacked with a killer embrace. She could smell Chloe's strong perfume before she saw her. Marinette went to glare down at the annoying girl, but Chloe's giant mass of blonde hair only got in the way.

"Oh Adrien, I missed you so much! It's been, like, twenty four hours since we last saw each other!"

Marinette only grumbled to herself and tried to pry the girl off of her. If Chloe seriously thought that from yesterday after school until this morning was twenty four hours then she was most definitely a living example of a stereotypical dumb blonde.

 _'This is even worse than dealing with her as Ladybug,'_ Marinette thought t herself as she tried once more to get the girl off of her, growing more frustrated with each second that passed. Never before had she wanted a crowbar as badly as she wanted one now.

After what felt like forever, Chloe finally released Marinette from her killer hug and stepped back, saying something to Adrien that Marinette tuned out. She opted for not listening or talking to the girl at the moment because she knew she probably wouldn't be able to hold herself back. She smiled a wicked grin as she thought about how Chloe would react if she took advantage of being Adrien and let her know how much nobody liked her, including himself.

She quickly shoved that thought aside as they made their way to class. As much as she hated the girl, she couldn't ruin Adrien's reputation for something like that.

As they approached their classroom Chloe finally released her grip on Marinette's arm, something that Marinette had failed to notice she was doing while in deep thought, and went with Sabrina to their desks.

Marinette entered the classroom next but paused in the doorway. She saw herself sitting in her seat next to Alya. To everyone else it would have looked perfectly normal, but to her it felt really odd. People don't usually see themselves in third person view other than in pictures, videos or the mirror, but here she was staring as herself having a conversation with Alya, most likely one about Ladybug.

Noticing her presence, she saw her light blue eyes shift in her direction, making eye contact for a brief moment, before quickly looking back to Alya.

"Hey," Marinette said quietly as she approached the desk and went to sit in Adrien's spot in the front row.

"Hi," Adrien replied while keeping his eyes averted.

She quickly sat down next to Nino who greeted her with a smile. She returned his smile, feeling more at ease. Nino she was comfortable with.

Her and Nino were having a casual conversation about new video game, Marinette praising herself for her so far convincing act, when the teacher walked in and started their lessons for the day.

With classes there wasn't much time for the two heroes to worry about each other or acting normal, so all they had to do was worry about was getting through the day. It seemed easy enough. However, another challenge of being in each other's bodies was approaching and no matter how much they tried to ignore it, the feeling just wouldn't go away and only got stronger as the minutes ticked by.

They really had to pee.

* * *

 **Phew, chapter 4 is finally done. It took a little longer than a week for me to write it but that's because exams start in less than a month so all major assignments are due around this time. Once my exams are over I'll have more than enough time to write this so hopefully then I can update on a set day each week.**

 **I really hoped you enjoyed this chapter and please let me know if there's anything you want me to improve!**

 **Chapter 5 comes with the big struggle of going to the bathroom XD**


	5. Chapter 5

Adrien had first felt the urge to pee shortly after arriving at school but he had made sure to shove the thought down into the furthest part of his brain. At the time it had seemed like a good idea, but what he never accounted for when the feeling would resurface later with even more urgency.

It was now nearly halfway through the day and he sat in math class unable to hear a word the teacher was saying. The simple feeling of having to pee was gone and had instead grown into an intense pain in his bladder. He literally felt as though he would burst.

With legs squeezed together, teeth biting down on his lips and his fingernails digging into his knees, he sat there in pure agony. Alya, being the observant type, quickly took note of her friend's behaviour and leaned over.

"Girl, you look like you're going to explode."

Adrien was only able to nod as he looked at her with desperation

"If you have to go so badly then just ask, Ms. Mendeleiev will be fine with it if it's an emergency," she whispered.

Adrien never got the chance to reply before the blonde head in front of him, which had been eavesdropping into their little exchange, whipped around and shot out at them in a whispered yell.

"If I can hold it in then so can you!"

Adrien stared back at her, taking notice that her situation was no better than his. Her cheeks were pink and expression strained from the attempt to hold everything in. She was under just as much pressure as he was.

The sound of plastic snapping on wood rang throughout the room, startling the duo. They both straightened up and faced the front as an unamused voice sounded.

"Is there something you would like to share with the class Mr. Agreste?"

For a second Adrien was taken off guard, forgetting that he wasn't himself at that moment, and had just started to answer the teacher's question when Marinette quickly cut him off.

"N-no, it's nothing."

She briefly turned her head back and shot him a look that said to be more careful as the teacher glared at them and went to return to the lesson. It was at that moment when Chloe jumped up from her seat and point an accusing finger at Adrien.

"I saw the whole thing, it's all Marinette's fault! Her and Alya were talking and it was distracting my poor Adrien, you should have them both expelled!"

"Thank you Miss. Bourgeois, now take your seat this instant!" Ms. Mendeleiev snapped then turned to this time stare down at Adrien with a warning look. Chloe turned to who she thought was Marinette a presented a cocky smile, but Adrien wasn't paying attention to her.

"I-I," he couldn't even think, all that was on his mind was getting to the bathrooms. As another wave of pain shot through his bladder along with the belief that he would pee himself in the middle of class if this went any further, he flew out of his seat.

"I have to be excused!"

With that he was out of the door in a flash before they teacher could reply.

"Hey!" Marinette called after him, then glanced back at the teacher, "M-me too, I have to go!" Marinette hastily scrambled to the door, leaving the class in a stunned silence as she left the class behind him. They were going to be in a lot of trouble later.

"I'm sorry, but I can't hold it any longer!" Adrien wailed to her as they both stood there in the hallway. His legs were squeezed together as he did a series of little bounces. Instinctively he shot his hands down to rest them in between his legs.

"Don't touch there!" Marinette squealed.

He looked down and flung his hands back up in embarrassment. Did he seriously just touch there! _'Don't think about that right now, it's not what's important here!'_ He squeezed his eyes shut before continuing. "Marinette, unless we can figure out a way to change back right now we'll either pee ourselves or suffer from some kind of bladder issue from holding it in too long!"

Marinette took in his words and closed her eyes as well, she knew he was right. Trying to hold in their pee until the end of the day wasn't a good idea. Bringing up the reasonable side of her brain she gave him a small nod.

"Fine, let's just get this over with."

With a surge of glee, Adrien took off towards the nearest bathroom. Upon entering he heard a startled yelp, yet he didn't notice and didn't care as he made his way to the nearest urinal and started undoing his zipper.

"Dude, what the hell!"

Adrien froze, eyes widening. His brain, which hadn't been thinking about anything other than going to the bathroom until then, finally began to work again. He found himself looking down at Marinette's clothes while standing in front of a urinal. There was definitely something wrong with that picture. Slowly he dragged his eyes up and met those of an upper year boy who stared back at him in disbelief.

"Oh…ah…" Adrien could feel his face beginning to heat up with embarrassment. Had he seriously just make the most common mistake that he could have made! What should he say, how could he possibly explain this?

The sound of the bathroom door slamming open caught both of their attentions. Before Adrien got the chance to turn and see who it was, he felt someone roughly grab his arm and he was dragged out of the bathroom.

Once outside, he was shoved in the direction of the girl's bathroom. Risking a glance behind him, he was met with his own face which shot him a glare, one made up of both anger and embarrassment. He wanted to apologize but Marinette stomped into the boy's bathroom, not giving him the chance to.

"What was all that about?" The boy inside asked her

Marinette ignored him as she strode towards the nearest stall and locked herself inside. Once she was safely inside she proceeded to slam her head on the wall of the stall and groaned.

"I know Chat doesn't usually think before he acts, but I thought that Adrien would."

"That's just who he is." Plagg said, popping his head out from her shirt.

Marinette sighed, deciding to ignore that problem for now, and turned to face the toilet. She stared down at it with uncertainty. How should she go about this?

"What's the hold up?" Plagg asked her. "All you have to do is grab _it_ with your hands and aim."

"I'm not doing that!" She squealed, causing Plagg to burst into laughter. The poor boy washing his hands was left in total confusion at his bathroom experience that day.

Marinette squeezed her eyes shut. Until they're able to change back they have to adapt to living as each other, which included adapting to this sort of thing.

Keeping her eyes shut, in one swift movement she pulled down her pants and sat on the toilet, figuring it to be a better option than standing. Once she was finished she peeked one eye open to stare at the roll of toilet paper.

Now what, should she wipe? Did boys even need to wipe when they went pee? There wasn't any toilet paper at the urinals so maybe they didn't have to. But wouldn't there be droplets if she didn't? Marinette shrugged off the thought and decided to follow what the boys at the urinals did. She definitely wasn't going to wipe if she didn't have to!

She pulled her pants up without looking down and cautiously peeked out of the stall to make sure the coast was clear.

"I hope we figure out a way to change back before I have to go through that again," she groaned to herself while finishing up in the bathroom.

Adrien on the other hand had rushed into a stall and sat down as quickly as he could, sighing as relief washed over him and the pain in his bladder slowly ebbed away. All the tension in his body drifted off and he was left feeling content.

It wasn't until he was finished when he was hit with a dilemma. Regret washed over him and he was beginning to wish he had just held his pee in. He swallowed a dry lump in his throat as he cast his gaze over to the roll of toilet paper.

Did he have to?

 **~.~.~.~.~**

Marinette sighed impatiently from outside of the girl's bathroom. It had been over five minutes since she finished, but Adrien was still in there. What was taking him so long? Going to the bathroom wasn't that different…

 _'No…'_

The blood drained from her face as she realized what the problem was.

In that moment she saw her figure emerge from the doorway, a tomato red face wearing mixture of embarrassment, regret and apology. Adrien kept his head down and shifted uncomfortably, unable to meet her gaze.

Marinette's insides churned and her face began to burn, gradually growing to match the colour of Adrien's. She wanted to feel angry but she knew it wasn't his fault.

"L-let's j-j-just…forget this ever happened…" she managed to spit out.

Adrien replied with a silent nod.

Without another word, the two made their way back to class.

 **~.~.~.~.~**

The rest of the day had flown by without any problems. After the bathroom incident Marinette and Adrien had entered the classroom with red faces and uneasy expressions, much to the confusion of their classmates. The two poured themselves into their work and focused intently on the rest of their lessons as a means to distract themselves from the embarrassing memories that threatened to resurface.

When the final bell rang they both sighed with relief. They could finally focus on the problem at hand and find a way to change back before they had to go through anymore torture. As soon as their teacher had dismissed the class, Alya grabbed her best friend's arm and dragged her down the hall and around a corner, finding a spot where they were alone.

"Ok girl, you have a lot of explaining to do," she stated to a very confused Adrien. He stared back at her blankly and blinked a few times, having no idea what she was talking about. Could she be referring to something that her and Marinette had discussed or done the day before? Knowing Alya the wrong response would cause suspicion.

"Uhhh…"

"What happened with you and Adrien!" Alya exclaimed. "First there was that little outburst in class and when you two returned you were both blushing like crazy. Care to explain?"

"O-oh, that!" Adrien squeaked, cheeks reddening as memories from the bathroom resurfaced. "N-nothing happened, I swear." He was lying through his teeth, but it wasn't like he could tell her the truth.

Alya's mouth spread out into a sly grin as she leaned in towards her friend. "Nothing, eh? Then what's with that blush?"

"I-I…" Adrien squeezed his eyes shut, he _really_ didn't want her to keep making him remember the events from earlier. He knew that Alya would only continue to ask him questions that he couldn't answer. In this case he only had one option. "I've got to go, bye!"

"Huh?" Alya didn't have time to question him before he turned around and bolted down the hall. "Hey, wait!" She called out after him.

Adrien swivelled his way around other students until he made it to the front entrance where Nino stood talking to Marinette. He made his way towards them and grabbed onto Marinette's arm.

"Sorry, I need to borrow Ma-I mean Adrien." He proceeded to drag a startled Marinette away.

"Where are they going?" Nino asked as Alya finally caught up.

"No," she replied earing her a confused stare from Nino, "the real question is: what are they hiding?"

When Adrien and Marinette were finally out of sight from their friends Marinette yanked her arm out of his grasp.

"I thought that we agreed upon pretending to not know each other in order to avoid suspicion," she whispered angrily while glancing around to make sure nobody was nearby.

"We did, it's just-"

"How was _that_ avoiding suspicion, there were more people than just Nino and Alya giving us weird looks!"

Adrien cringed at Marinette's anger, she seemed to be taking this a lot more seriously than he was. It wasn't as though he didn't think this was a serious matter, of course he did, it was just that he didn't think of it as serious an issue as she did. Adrien's logic was that when others see a pair people acting differently than normal their first thought typically wouldn't be that the two had switched bodies. Stuff like that just seemed absurd, unless it was related to an akuma attack, and though it was in their case, others weren't aware of that.

"We can't keep doing this. Honestly, it makes no sense for us to not communicate at all when at school," He said, swinging his arms out in front of him as he tried to make his point.

"But what if they suspe-"

"They won't suspect us." Adrien placed his hands on her shoulders. "Besides, once we're changed back are we just going to continue to ignore each other at school? Will we just pretend that none of this ever happened?"

Marinette stopped to ponder on his answer, resting her chin in her fingers. He had a point, but it also wouldn't make sense for them to go from hardly talking with one another to hanging out overnight. Knowing Alya, she would bombard Adrien with questions and comments until he learned more than she would want him to know about her feelings towards him. She had too many things on her plate at the moment and that was something she really couldn't deal with right now.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Adrien. "Ok, how about for now we ignore how we'll act, we can discuss that later. Right now we have more important things to worry about."

"And that is?"

"We have to purify the akuma if we want to change back, but the Gorilla is probably waiting outside to pick me up as we speak. My dad likes for me to go straight home after school before a photo shoot so I have time to get ready and won't be late."

Adrien cautiously glanced around the corner and sighed with relief to find Nino and Alya were already gone.

"Gorilla?" Marinette looked at him questioningly.

"My bodyguard, that big guy who looks like a gorilla," he replied.

"Oh, him," she said as she followed him around the corner and into the front lobby of the school. "Can't you just tell him you have something to do for school and that you'll be there later?"

"When it comes to my dad's orders the Gorilla goes all out. If my dad says he has to pick me up from school today, then he won't let me go." Adrien made his way to the front doors and hid behind the wall, peeking through the front entrance at the Gorilla who stood with the car parked in front of the school.

"This is so exhilarating," he breathed excitedly, "I can't believe I'm going to sneak away."

"Why are you hiding, I'm the one he's waiting for," Marinette commented, taking in the fact that Adrien looked as though he was in a spy movie the way he had his back pressed to the wall and cautiously peered through the door.

Adrien put his finger to his mouth, signalling her to quiet down. Marinette only shook her head and placed her palm against her forehead. Why was he making this into such a big deal?"

"We need to an escape plan," Adrien whispered.

"I don't think he can hear us from here…"

Adrien pressed his finger to Marinette's lips and quickly glanced back outside to make sure they hadn't alerted the Gorilla.

"Here's a plan," she said, playing along with him and whispering. "Why don't we take the back entrance?"

With that she turned on her heels and began to walk in the opposite direction of the front door. Adrien looked back at her, stunned. His Lady was so smart, how did she think up these kind of things! He beamed at her receding figure and jogged until he caught up with her.

Once the two were safely outside at the back of the school they broke out into a sprint. Adrien told Marinette that he didn't know how long it would be until the Gorilla grew suspicious and they didn't want anyone to be able to tell him that they saw where Adrien went. They didn't stop until they made it to Marinette's family's bakery, bursting through the front door. Adrien peeked through the window to make sure nobody had followed them, letting out a breath of relief when he saw nothing.

"Welcome home Marinette, how was school?" Sabine smiled at her daughter and handed some change to the customer waiting at the counter. Her attention was then drawn to the blonde boy who also stood in the bakery. "Oh, and Adrien is here too! It's nice to see you again."

"Hi Mrs. Cheng, school was great. Now if you'll excuse us, we have something important to do." Marinette grabbed Adrien's arm, not wanting her parents' nosiness to get in the way, and bolted up the stairs that led to her home, then up the stairs to her bedroom.

As soon as the trap door closed below them the room fell silent. Marinette opened her mouth to speak, but suddenly found she had no idea what to say. Judging from the expression on Adrien's face she assumed he felt the same. Marinette went to speak again, but closed her mouth a couple seconds after opening it. Something about them being alone in her room brought back the awkward feelings of Marinette and Adrien.

Ever since the change whenever they had the chance to be together alone it was always during times when their thoughts were preoccupied with something more important. It wasn't until they stood alone in Marinette's room when the two felt the tension begin to grow and weigh down on them. It was easy to talk when they were thinking like Ladybug and Chat Noir, but as soon as their minds went back to being Adrien and Marinette, everything got more difficult.

Marinette quickly dropped Adrien's arm, suddenly feeling embarrassed from holding it. What should they say, how should they communicate? Why was it so easy for them to talk when they were dealing with more important things?

"What's up with you two?" Plagg asked, flying out from Marinette's shirt. "Up until seconds ago you were chatting perfectly fine."

"Just leave them alone, Plagg," Tikki scolded from her spot in the little bag Adrien wore. She knew the heroes still weren't accustomed to being together in their civilian forms.

The sound of the trap door being opened caught their attention, shattering the uneasiness which filled the room and causing Plagg to shoot behind Marinette. Tom poked his head through the opening on the floor and Marinette groaned, knowing that her mother probably told him about Adrien being over the second they went upstairs.

He held up a plate of croissants. "I brought some snacks in case you get hungry."

Adrien's face brightened while Marinette scowled. Why did her parents have to be so pesky?

"We're not hungry," she snapped, instantly regretting her response when she saw the shock on her father's face. "Ah…sorry, no thanks Mr. Dupain. Marinette and I had a stressful day at school so I'm, uh, a little grumpy right now."

As Marinette spoke she flashed him a series of awkward smiles and scratched the back of her head, hoping her father would buy her lame excuse and not come to dislike Adrien because of her snapping at him. Tom gave her a confused nod and told them to call if they wanted anything before lowering his head back down through the opening and closing the trap door.

Once her father was gone Marinette turned to look at Adrien whose face held a look of pure disappointment.

"Don't worry," she encouraged him, "I don't think my dad suspected anything."

"Right," Adrien sighed, mumbling to himself about another missed opportunity with the croissants.

Marinette made her way over to her desk where Adrien had placed the little box with the half purified akuma inside. She peered into one of the holes they had poked into it to make sure it was still there. The soft glow from its purified half confirmed its presence

"We should focus on purifying this little guy right now," she said, trying to go back into Ladybug mode and push down her feelings.

Adrien looked up and nodded, the awkwardness between them fading as they decided to focus on the akuma. They went back downstairs with the box clutched in Marinette's hands. As they passed through the bakery once more to leave the house Tom and Sabine gave their daughter a thumbs up, confusing Adrien who decided just to smile in response.

"We should probably put the butterfly in a bug holder instead of keeping it in this tiny box," Marinette commented as they walked down the street, keeping their eyes open in case anyone came looking for Adrien.

He hummed in agreement. "Good idea."

They entered a little store and picked out a clear bug carrier, bringing it up to the cashier who rang it through and told them the price.

The cashier was startled as she watched the blonde boy reach into his girlfriend's purse and pull out her pink and black wallet. He grabbed a couple of coins and held his hand out. The cashier glanced at the girlfriend who didn't seem to care that her boyfriend had just taken her wallet and was using her money to pay. Reluctantly she took the money and handed the boy the change.

He put the coins in the wallet but instead of placing the wallet back inside the girl's purse, he dropped it into his own pocket. The cashier gaped like a fish out of water. She wanted to say something, but his girlfriend still didn't seem to care at all that he was doing this. Instead she settled for glaring at the boy to which he looked back at her confused as him and his girlfriend left the store.

"What was up with her, she kept glaring at me?" Marinette asked one they were outside.

Adrien only shrugged in reply. "Bad day I guess."

He opened the bug carrier to let the akuma in. The black and white butterfly flew from the tiny box into the much bigger carrier and settled on a fake branch that was inside.

Marinette smiled. "Now we just have to-"

She paused mid-sentence as a car screech to a halt beside them. They both turned to see Nathalie emerging from one of the doors.

"Adrien!" Nathalie scolded. "Where have you been? You know you're supposed to be picked up from school when you have photo shoots."

Adrien started to panic internally even though he knew they were after Marinette and not him. Luckily, his Lady was much quicker at coming up with solutions than he was. Grabbing his hand she proceeded to pull him down the street.

"Run!" She stated.

He could hear Nathalie calling after them, followed by the sound of a car door closing and the engine starting up. He felt a little bad knowing that they would feel his father's rage if they lost him, but at the same time this made him excited. Running off with his Lady and disobeying his father's orders!

The car quickly caught up to them and Adrien felt Marinette yank his arm in another direction as she pulled him into the park where the car couldn't get to. They turned to glance back at the car only to find the Gorilla this time, hurtling towards them with a murderous look on his face as his eyes focused in on Adrien. Normally he wouldn't think about harming Adrien, but he didn't mind going after anyone who he saw as a threat to the boy he was supposed to be guarding, and in this case, the little girl with pigtails was that threat.

"W-wait, it's ok!" Adrien held up his hands in a surrendering gesture, but realized that talking to the Gorilla as Marinette wouldn't do anything as his bodyguard continued to charge towards them.

"Stop!" Marinette said, moving to stand in front of Adrien. The Gorilla immediately stopped moving, but continued to glare at the dark haired girl. Nathalie walked up behind the larger man and glared down at the two teenagers.

"You should probably go," Adrien whispered to Marinette who looked back at him is disbelief.

"But what about-"

"We'll have to save changing back for later," he was staring into Nathalie and the Gorilla's furious eyes.

Marinette pouted, something which was foreign to Adrien's face, and followed an angry Nathalie and Gorilla back to the car. She spared Adrien one last glance as she got in. He clutched the bug carried and gave her a pitying look, mouthing 'we'll do it later' to her.

With that, Nathalie slammed her door shut and they drove off.

 **~.~.~.~.~**

Marinette dragged herself into Adrien's room and slumped down onto his bed, not even caring about the fact that she was laying on _Adrien's_ bed. The couch was too far and she was both mentally and physically exhausted. She had never thought that photoshoots could be so tiring, at least it never seemed that way whenever she would secretly watch Adrien doing them in the park. She ignored the sounds of Plagg digging through her bag where she had snuck in some camembert.

The photographer had refused to let her leave until she had finished all the shots that she was scheduled to do, and because of that she wasn't able to return home until past midnight. According to the photographer she wasn't a natural, and he had actually said that to her too. To think that someone actually had the guts to tell Adrien Agreste, or at least who they thought to be Adrien Agreste, that he wasn't a natural. The boy could probably roll out of bed and be ready for a photo shoot, yet this guy had the nerve to say to her face that she was an amateur.

Marinette sighed and draped her arm across her face. Why was modelling so hard? She did the poses just as she was asked yet she still got yelled at for doing them wrong. She got constant complaints about how her smile was too forced and her body was too stiff. Did they seriously expect her to smile naturally when they did nothing but yell at her!

And then there was the makeup. Every time she would touch her face, whether it be to scratch an itch or rub the sleepiness out of her eyes, she would be yelled at once more and they would drag her overoff to the side to reapply her makeup.

She grabbed a pillow and pressed it to her face, letting out a long groan. They hadn't gotten the chance to change back today, but she wouldn't stop trying until they were back in their own bodies. There was no way she was doing another photoshoot if her life depended on it!

If anything good came out of that experience then it was the fact that Marinette now felt a lot more comfortable with Adrien's body. She had been forced to change clothes so many times that she really didn't care about it anymore. It wasn't as though she would be willing to look at Adrien's naked body or anything, definitely not, but she was able to change his clothes without getting all flustered.

Pulling the pillow off her face, she stared at the ceiling that stretched far above her. It felt awkward trying to sleep in a room that didn't even feel like a bedroom. A library, a rock climbing wall, a skateboarding ramp; these weren't things you would typically find in a bedroom. His room was amazing, there was no denying that, but it only made her feel homesick.

Marinette closed her eyes and tried to imagine that she was back in her room at home, picturing the small yet homely space around her. She smiled as the familiar images and scents flooded her mind. The smell of freshly baked bread coming from downstairs, the window above her bed which led to her balcony, the sewing machine she spent many hours and sleepless nights in front of, the pictures of Adrien by her computer.…

Her eyes shot open.

 _Pictures of Adrien!_

* * *

 **I actually wasn't planning on releasing a chapter this week because of my two major exams next week, but then I discovered that writing is the perfect means of procrastination from studying XD**

 **To be honest, I've never actually read a body swap story before so I'm pretty new to this. If there's anything that I'm doing wrong/should include please feel free to tell me, I don't want to accidentally not do something that could be funny (humiliating) for our heroes.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this update!**


	6. Chapter 6

Marinette shot off the bed. Her face instantly paled and blood ran cold as she realized she forgot about the one thing she didn't want Adrien to see the most.

"What's your problem?" Plagg asked flying up next to her, confused at her sudden burst of energy.

"Pictures of Adrien!" She shouted, turning to him with a crazed look in her eyes.

"Huh?" That was all Plagg was able to get out before he felt himself being pulled into the ring on Marinette's finger, transforming her into Chat Noir. Without a moment of hesitation, Marinette was out the window and leaping across buildings in the night.

A million thoughts rattled through her mind as she made her way towards her house. _'Did he see them? No, he never mentioned seeing them. But if he did see them he probably wouldn't have told me. How do I know if he saw them!'_

It was a beautiful night but Marinette wasn't able to take it in or enjoy the feeling of freedom. She moved across the top of the city with ease, leaping from one building to the next as the wind whipped across her face. She would have been able to move faster had she been Ladybug with her yo-yo or if she knew how to use Chat's staff, but she couldn't worry about that at the moment and settled for simply leaping across the tops of the buildings.

Marinette's mind cleared as she neared the all too familiar bakery. Landing softly on her balcony she peered through the window which led to her room. It was dark inside, which made sense considering it was past midnight. He would be asleep, right? She swallowed the lump in her throat and carefully tugged on the window. Marinette sighed in relief, it was unlocked. She often left it unlocked herself in case there was an akuma attack late at night and was glad to see Adrien probably had the same idea.

The window was located right above her bed and at first she was startled to see the bed empty, thinking that maybe Adrien was still awake, but calmed down when she noticed a sleeping figure curled up on her chaise. Marinette slid through the window and gently closed it so as to not make any sound.

Although the room was dark she could see everything perfectly with Chat's night vision, something which she was extremely grateful for. She sidled down the ladder until she was on the floor and began moving as carefully as she could, taking slow and cautious steps. She placed one foot in front of the other, gently easing it down before moving the next foot. The entire time she kept her eyes focused on the chaise where Adrien lay, ready to turn and run if he woke up.

As she started to move past the chaise she stopped to take in the sight of Adrien. He had taken her hair out of its pigtails and it now brushed against his shoulders, but he still wore the same clothes that she had been wearing the day of the change. Although there was the bathroom issue earlier in the day, it still made her smile to know he hadn't undressed her body yet even though she was perfectly aware of what he had to do when going to the bathroom.

Realizing that she was spending too much time staring down at the figure of a sleeping "girl" after technically breaking into said "girl's" bedroom, a situation that anyone would misinterpret if they saw it, Marinette shook her head and kept going. She realized that Adrien wouldn't be the worst case scenario, especially if her parents for some reason caught her in the act. It would be best if she got this over with as quickly as possible.

She felt as though she had completed a milestone once she finally managed to pass Adrien's sleeping figure, leaving him was behind her. She was only halfway to her desk, and without Adrien in View she suddenly felt a burst of confidence. She wouldn't get caught, she was just like a cat-burglar. Marinette silently laughed to herself, the Chat side of Adrien would love that one, too bad she could never tell him about it without explaining the situation.

Moving a little quicker now, Marinette continued towards her desk. She was getting closer, so close she had already outstretched her hands ready to grab the pictures, everything was going perfectly that she forgot to focus on where she was stepping. The second her left foot was placed on the floorboard beneath her there was a long and loud creak.

In the silent night the sound seemed so much louder than normal. Marinette knew it was her imagination, but she could have sworn that it echoed throughout her room, causing her ears which were used to the silence to ring.

Marinette was frozen to the spot. Should she dare pick up her foot and risk another creak, would it be a good idea to turn around? What would Adrien say? If he hadn't seen the pictures before then he surely would now. Cautiously, she cast her gaze over to the chaise. The figure stirred, but remained asleep.

Marinette let out the breath she hadn't realized she had been holding, releasing a long sigh of relief. With that, she continued her way towards her desk, more cautiously this time. Once there she snatched all of the photos off the walls and the picture frames that sat on her desk. She made sure to do a quadruple check, just to make sure she got them all.

Next she moved onto her computer where her desktop background was a collage of Adrien pictures with swirly hearts around them. Oh, he definitely couldn't see that one. She clicked on the screen and instantly regretted it as the light shone out in the dark room, blinding her. Marinette squinted her eyes and looked away towards Adrien again who still lay there asleep.

Turning back to her computer with her eyes still squinted, Marinette quickly fumbled with her mouse and changed her desktop background to anything that wasn't Adrien related. Once she was done with that she took the folder of Adrien pictures on her computer and hid it inside a series of other folders. She knew he probably wouldn't go snooping through her computer, but she just wanted to be safe.

With her job finally done, and her many pictures of Adrien clutched against her chest, she made her way back through the window she had come in from. She gently closed it behind her and leapt off into the night, the weight in her chest finally ebbing away.

 **~.~.~.~.~**

Adrien was flabbergasted. He could have sworn that the day before Marinette's walls were covered in photos of him, but this morning when he woke up the first thing he noticed was how bare they were.

"Tikki," he asked with a shocked expression on his face, "where did all the pictures go?"

Tikki had a pretty good idea about where they had probably gone, but she decided to protect Marinette and go along with whatever it was she had done with them. She shrugged her shoulders in response.

"I don't remember there being pictures on the walls, other than the ones that are already there," she said, pointing to the few non-Adrien photos which Marinette had left, trying not to let him catch on to her lie.

Adrien continued to gawk at the walls in bewilderment. When he had first noticed the pictures the day before, and how could he not notice them when they were _everywhere_ , he was shocked. He had never realized how much of a fan Marinette was, a fan of his father that is. All of the pictures had been from fashion magazines of himself wearing his father's brand of clothing.

Adrien had already assumed that Marinette looked up to his father considering her dream to be a fashion designer, but he didn't know she respected his work that much. After he had first seen the photos he had considered getting her his dad's autograph on one of them once they found a way to switch back, but that didn't seem possible anymore considering they were gone now. How could a wall full of pictures just vanish?

Tikki came to his side and tried to draw his attention away from the wall, telling him that he shouldn't dwell on it.

"But I swear they were there," he said, looking back at the empty wall as Tikki herded him towards the other side of the room.

"Marinette's never had pictures there, are you sure you're feeling alright Adrien?" She winced, feeling bad for making the boy think he was crazy as he looked between her and the wall, his face turning concerned as he seemed to consider his own mental wellbeing. Was the stress of their situation getting to his head?

Tikki urged him away and decided to distract his thoughts with the only thing she could think of.

"Adrien, you're not planning on wearing the same clothes again today, are you?"

Just as she assumed, his attention was immediately drawn from the wall as he snapped his head to stare at her with wide eyes.

"Adrien," Tikki flew in front of his face and stared at him seriously, "you can't continue to wear the same clothes until you and Mari manage to change back. They're dirty and starting to smell, you have to change at some point."

Adrien lowered his gaze, knowing she was right.

"I know, but…" he sighed, "I want to respect Marinette and Ladybug. Undressing her body without her permission feels wrong."

Tikki couldn't help smile at his words, some boys would jump at the chance to take advantage of this situation, but not Adrien. Despite how he acted as Chat, he was truly a wonderful boy with respect and good morals. There had been times in past generations when she didn't approve of who her Ladybug wanted to spend their life with, but she would support Marinette with Adrien until the end.

She flew over and sat on Adrien's shoulder, resting her hand on the side of his face.

"There are some times when you may not have much of a choice in a matter, such as now. I'm sure Mari will understand, and besides, changing clothes is nothing compared to when you went to the bathroom."

She giggled as Adrien's face reddened. He brought a hand up and covered his eyes in embarrassment. "Please don't remind me."

Tikki moved from his shoulder to float in front of Marinette's closet. "It's better to get it over with."

Adrien nodded. "Right, just like a band aid." He followed Tikki to the closet and opened it, mumbling to himself. "Just quickly take them off and put the new ones on, it can't be that hard."

He started with his bottoms first, throwing off the ones he wore and putting on the new pants and undergarments that Tikki handed to him while keeping his eyes from looking down. See, it was easy if he just didn't think too much about it. Next he moved onto his top half, tilting his head up as far as it would go so he wouldn't see anything.

He pulled off the clothes and was feeling fairly confident with himself, but it wasn't until Tikki handed him Marinette's bra when he froze. It wasn't as if holding her bra was making him nervous or anything, it was just an article of clothing, but it was the fact that he had no clue how he was supposed to put it on.

He had taken off the one he was previously wearing by just pulling it over his head like a shirt, but this one wasn't done up. Unsure of himself, he slipped his arms through the straps and reached his hands behind his back and grabbed the hooks. Fumbling with the bra, he tried sticking the hooks into their slots, but they weren't going in.

It only took a couple seconds for Adrien to grow furious with them. He could feel the slots with his fingers, and he could have sworn that he was moving the hooks right overtop of them, but they never stuck in. First pigtails and now bras, what was with girls and doing things without looking, not that he would look if he could since that would involve seeing Marinette without a top on.

He continued to struggle with the hooks and after what felt like forever, one of them caught into a hold. His feeling of accomplishment was short lived though as he realized that he had managed to put the top hook through the middle slot. Groaning in frustration he undid the only progress he had made.

Adrien knew he could have asked Tikki at any time, but he didn't want to rely on her for everything. She had already done his hair again after he woke up that morning so he was determined to complete this himself. Tikki watched him and smiled at his determination.

At long last, after many tries, Adrien felt the three hooks slip into place and stood back to face the red kwami.

"Did I do it right?"

Tikki nodded and Adrien beamed, proud with himself for being able to accomplish what he felt was a near impossible task. Tikki only laughed to herself, wondering what Marinette would think if she knew how satisfied it made Adrien from successfully putting on her bra.

Adrien had finished putting on the rest of Marinette's clothes and was ready to head downstairs for breakfast, but Tikki stopped him by tugging on his sleeve. He turned to look at her and she directed his attention to the window where the bug case with the akuma sat.

"What are you going to do about that?" She asked. "You and Marinette never got the chance to think up a plan on how to purify it yesterday."

Adrien nodded, walking up to the bug case and picking it up. The sun reflected off the purified half of the akuma, making the white wings sparkle in the early morning light. It would be beautiful if not for the shadowy side which only swirled with darkness.

The day before, after Marinette had been taken by Nathalie and the Gorilla, he had gone back to her house and attempted to purify it himself. Though he tried many times, the result was always the same. Marinette was the one who came up with all their plans and in this situation it didn't seem like simply trying to purify it over and over again was going to work. If they were going to solve this then he needed to be with her so she could come up with a solution.

Adrien brought the bug case over to the chaise and sat down, taking out Marinette's phone and dialing his number. It rang, then rang again and again and again, but there was no answer. As the phone continued to ring on he began to grow concerned. Why wasn't she answering? Marinette should have been up at that point, Nathalie would have made sure of it. She should know it's him from the caller ID, did she just not have his phone with her?

He was just starting to consider hanging up and trying again later when the ringing ceased, leaving nothing but silence on the other end.

"Hello?" Adrien asked cautiously, wondering if Marinette was even the one who had answered and not somebody else.

There was no reply, so he tried again. "Hello?"

This time he heard a bit of rustling from the other end followed by a quiet and nervous response.

"H-hi…"

"Marinette?" He asked. "Are you okay?"

Adrien had no clue what was up with her. Did something happen, was there somebody nearby and she didn't want to give anything away? What he wasn't aware of though was that the person on the other end was internally freaking out.

Marinette had frozen when she heard Adrien's phone ring, knowing there was only one person who would have been calling that early. Seeing her name and number displayed on the screen only confirmed her worries. Why was he calling, did he want to ask about the pictures? What was she supposed to say in response? _'Hey Adrien, I didn't want you to know about my stalker like crush on you so I snuck into my room while you were asleep and took the photos.'_

No way was that happening!

Then she decided that maybe if she ignored the constant ringing then maybe he would give up, but it wasn't like she could avoid him forever. In just an hour or so she would be sitting in front of him at school and he could ask then. And then there was the issue of an emergency. What if he was calling because of an akuma attack or something? If that was the case then she would have to answer.

Finally, she reluctantly swiped her finger across the screen, accepting the call. However, the second she heard Adrien's voice from the other end her mouth clamped shut. Okay, so she accepted the call, but now what? When Adrien spoke again she knew she had to respond. Mustering up all her courage she managed to let out a soft squeak of a greeting. Well, it was better than nothing.

When Adrien asked if she was okay she nodded her head, but upon realizing that he couldn't see her she let out a quiet "yes."

Adrien was both confused and worried. What was up with her? He had never really witnessed her being quiet and reluctant to speak like this. Even the Marinette he knew before spoke to him, it may have been a bunch of babbled nonsense, but she still spoke to him.

He asked her if she was okay again and she assured him that she was. Well, it wasn't like he could argue with her so he might as well get to the point.

"I think we should meet up as Ladybug and Chat Noir sometime before school. Yesterday we never got the chance to try and purify the akuma together, and after school today you'll have fencing. What do you think?"

He heard Marinette let out a long sigh of relief on the other end, as if she thought he was going to ask her about something else. When she responded she was back to her usual self, all traces of her weird reaction to him calling were gone.

"That sounds good, the quicker we can get turned back the better."

They discussed when and where they should meet up. They only had so much time in between Marinette eating breakfast and being driven to school so they would have to fix their problem within that time frame. Hopefully by the time they go to school they would already be back to normal.

Both Adrien and Marinette changed into their hero forms and made their ways to the designated meeting place, the top of a tall building near the museum. It was their usual meeting place whenever they went on patrols.

Marinette made it to the building first, followed by Adrien shortly after. They turned to face each other as Ladybug and Chat Noir. The last time they had seen each other in these forms was the night of the change, but this time they stood in the daylight and were able to fully take in what it was like to look at themselves this way.

Both of them had hair slick with grease from not having showered since the incident. It was only the second day after the change, but with all the running around they had been doing lately it only made their cleanliness situation worse.

"You know Nathalie will never let you out with hair like that," Adrien commented, knowing that his dad's assistant would rather he be late for school and force Marinette to shower than to suffer bringing a bad name to his image.

"I know," Marinette replied," and I've already thought of a solution for that."

Adrien moved to wrap his arm around his partner and drew her in beside him, standing on the tips of his toes to make them eye level so he could lean in and give her his signature grin.

"Oh, then I would love to hear about it my Lady, you always come up with the best plans." He couldn't help it, the mask tended to bring out his Chat side.

Ladybug's normal reaction would be to push his face away, but since she was now taller than him she instead placed her hand on the top of his head and pushed him down, keeping it there so he would stay down.

"I'll just wear a hat, it's not that amazing." She tilted her gaze to look at the akuma. "Let's not worry about that for now though, we only have so much time until Nathalie will be expecting me."

Chat held up the bug cage. "I tried purifying it multiple times yesterday, but nothing changed. Any ideas?"

Marinette hummed to herself and held her chin in thought. "Maybe," she said, "you're not doing it right, like maybe it's not working because you have the wrong form or something like that."

Chat knew he still didn't have much control over the yo-yo, so he nodded and placed the bug case down.

The next period of time was spent with Ladybug demonstrating the proper way to hold and swing the yo-yo when purifying an akuma. Chat mimicked her actions but his handling of the toy was still sloppy, and why he tried to catch the butterfly in it he didn't always have the perfect aim and missed the akuma altogether.

Before they knew it their hour was already up and they hadn't made any progress at all. Chat had gotten a little better, but he still hadn't gotten the full hang of the yo-yo yet. Ladybug knew it was a little difficult to master, but when she first became Ladybug she had taken to it quite quickly, just as he had to the staff. In the end they knew they were made for their own roles, and not to be each other.

With a hasty farewell, Ladybug leaped from the building on her retreat back to the Agreste mansion, hoping that she could make it back before Nathalie came looking for her

 **~.~.~.~.~**

School that day had been fairly uneventful. Alya hadn't caused much trouble, but she did keep a close eye on both Marinette and Adrien, studying them in an attempt to catch anything different about their behaviours. Chloe was her typical Chloe self, much to Marinette's annoyance, but all in all, they didn't have any problems with school.

Fencing, on the other hand, was horrendous. The instructor and the other students were shocked at how Adrien had gone from being the best student to a beginner. Marinette found herself falling to her butt more than once, only to be told to get back up and continue.

The terms they used in fencing were foreign to her, they didn't even refer to the sword as a sword, it had some other name. When it came to sparring she had swung her sword around like she thought a sword was supposed to be swung, the way you see people fight with swords in movies, but apparently that was the wrong way to go about it.

Not only that, but the mask and fencing gear she had to wear was hot. Her already dirty hair was wet and sweat rolled down her forehead. Lucky for her, the instructor seemed to take her lack of skill and not remembering the terminology and poses as a sign of her being under the weather. She was sent home early in which she gladly accepted.

Just like the day before, once she finally made it into Adrien's room and closed the door, she let herself fall face first onto the bed. Plagg flew out of her fencing bag and moved to float above her head.

"Adrien always says my camembert stinks, but right now I doubt anything could smell worse than you."

Marinette moved her head to peek one eye out and glared at him. "I doubt I smell that bad." She lifted one arm and took a single sniff, her body going stiff before letting her arm flop back onto the bed. "Okay, so maybe I do smell that bad."

"Just have a shower already," Plagg stated, "besides, judging from all the photos of Adrien you worked so hard to collect last night, you probably wouldn't mind getting a good look at his naked bod-"

He shut up when a pillow was slammed down on top on him.

"Not. Another. Word," Marinette hissed between her teeth. She was tired and sweaty and frustrated, not the best state to be in when dealing with Plagg.

He gave her a muffled reply and she lifted the pillow from him. She groaned but knew he was right about her needing a shower, and it would probably make her fell less frustrated afterwards. It couldn't be too bad, it would be just like getting changed except the period in-between having clothes on would be longer.

Making up her mind, Marinette stood up and started to get undressed. Plagg could only watch in astonishment. He didn't think she would actually do it, this girl had guts. Making sure not to look at anything, Marinette grabbed a towel and wrapped it around herself tightly. Boys usually wear the towel around their waste but she had it on like she would normally wear it, tucked up right under her armpits.

With confidence, she strode into the bathroom that connected with Adrien's room. Marinette went straight for the shower, turning it on and standing back to marvel at the bathroom around her, it looked like something out of a home styling magazine.

"It's so fancy," she murmured to herself. His bathroom was so giant that there was even a set of doors separating the sinks and toilet from the shower and bathtub, making his bathroom alone two separate rooms. Why a single person needed such a big bathroom was beyond her.

In her peripheral vision Marinette noticed the figure of a person and turned to find a full length mirror on the wall, quickly noting to make sure she had a towel on after her shower before passing by that area. Walking over to the mirror, she took in the sight of Adrien.

It still felt weird looking at a mirror and seeing another person copy your actions. She looked into his green eyes which stared back intently, flickering around as she moved her gaze across his features. Starting from the top of his greasy blonde head and down to the towel she had wrapped around her, worn like a strapless dress. Marinette covered her mouth and let out a giggle, the sight was pretty funny looking.

Marinette stopped as she saw her reflection of Adrien laughing in the mirror, remembering being yelled at the day before for not looking natural when they wanted her to laugh and smile. An idea began to form in her head. Next time, if there was a next time, she would prove them wrong about not being able to model.

Striking one of the poses they had wanted, she forced the best smile she could onto her face, trying to imitate the smile she had seen Adrien use in the pictures she had of him. The result? It looked like she had plastered one of her awkward Marinette smiles onto Adrien's face. She cringed, now it all made so much sense, she understood why they were getting so frustrated with her. Did any of the pictures they took that night turn out well? Probably not.

Marinette moved into a different pose and tried another look that they had wanted, one which the photographer had described as "strolling through the park on a moonlit night," but the result was no better. Determination coursing through her, Marinette continued to swap between poses, trying to make them look as natural as possible.

Steam began to fill the bathroom as the hot water from the shower continued to run, but Marinette ignored it and the sweat that was starting to glisten her body as she continued her attempts at modelling. She went into another pose, her elbow sitting atop her other arm, a hand resting on the side of her face, the way she stood looked so natural and not rigid like the other times she forced poses.

She froze and took in the sight of herself. It was perfect, she looked just like the Adrien in her pictures! Part of her wished that she would get another photoshoot before changing back just so she could show off what she learned. Pride and accomplishment swelled in her chest.

And then her towel fell.

* * *

 **Our heroes still aren't finished with their awkward situations from being in each others bodies, oh the embarrassment of body swaps.**

 **I love all of your reviews and am glad that so many people seem to like this story so far,** **I really hope you enjoyed this update!**

 **Have a wonderful long weekend everyone!**


	7. Chapter 7

Marinette's brain was a little slow in processing what was going on. One moment the towel had been wrapped around her chest just under her armpits as she posed, but in the next it was gone.

Her eyes slowly began to travel down the body in the mirror, but stopped when she caught sight of a certain…manly asset…which belonged to Adrien. For a brief moment Marinette didn't realize what exactly she was looking at, she had only ever seen those kinds of things in the form of diagrams during health class before. However, it only took less than a second for her brain to clue in and recognize just what this _thing_ was.

She responded in the only way she knew how, by letting out a piercing, ear-splitting scream that echoed around the bathroom walls. Marinette went to take a step backwards, but her feet were tangled in the towel and she was propelled downwards, her bare butt smacking roughly against the tiled floor. She hardly felt it though as her thoughts were a little preoccupied.

She had clenched her eyes shut during the fall, and when she reopened them her head was tilted down, giving her a much closer and a _very_ more detailed view of Adrien's…boy parts. She let out another horrified shriek and proceeded to try and run away. Running away didn't make much sense in the situation, considering she wasn't being chased by anything, but Marinette wasn't exactly thinking straight either. In her mind, running away meant escaping the problem.

She stood up and turned around, but her feet were still tangled in the towel and the moment she tried to take a step forward she was to the floor again, this time face first. Marinette proceeded to flail around like a fish, squirming about until she was finally untangled from the towel, leaving herself in a twisted heap on the floor, limbs going in different directions.

She began to think a little more logically as her brain cleared ever so slightly, being freed from the towel and facing away from the mirror made her feel like she had overcome a challenge. It was then, as her mind became less fuzzy, when she realized that her right hand was gripping a foreign object.

What was her hand touching?

Marinette's eyes widened, her heart rate speeding up. Her brain started to go numb again as it processed what was happening.

What was her hand touching!

Letting out yet another scream, she flung her hand up from where it had been resting in between her legs. She continued to release a chorus of shrieks and she gripped her arm and stared down with wide eyes at her sinful hand, fingers twitching like crazy.

In her peripheral vision, Marinette caught sight of Plagg hovering in the air near the ceiling. She didn't know when he had gotten there, but he seemed to be having a merry old time enjoying the show before him. Just the sight of him caused her to immediately stop screaming, though her ears were still ringing which caused all sounds around her to be muffled, but judging alone from the kwami's open mouth, teary eyes and hunched over posture, it was obvious he was getting a kick out of this.

He started to clutch his aching stomach, laughter being reduced to strained exhales of air as he was unable to catch his breath in between laughs. Plagg didn't even care about keeping himself afloat anymore, letting himself fall from his spot near the ceiling and landing with a light thump on the sink counter where he proceeded to roll around as he struggled to breathe.

"Th-this isn't funny!" Marinette managed to get out once she regained her ability to speak, but her comment only made the kwami laugh even harder.

"Stop it!" She gathered the towel from behind her and wrapped it once more around her body, this time with her fists clenching it tightly to hold it in place. Plagg just continued to roll around and laugh while slamming his fist down repeatedly against the counter.

"I hope you die of laughter," Marinette murmured, she was done trying to get him to stop. Her voice was hoarse and throat sore from all the screaming, her butt hurt from falling to the floor and the beginning of a headache was starting to pulse in her skull.

She dragged herself out of the bathroom, put on Adrien's pajamas and curled up under his covers. A wave of embarrassment coursed through her and she pulled the covers up over her head, cocooning herself in sheets.

"I never imagined _this_ would be the way I got acquainted with Adrien," she whispered softly to herself, trying to keep her embarrassment at bay and wishing this was nothing more than a nightmare. At some point her self-pity and pounding head faded into the back of her mind as sleep overcame her.

She dreamt of her childhood, before Adrien, before Ladybug, before everything that was going on, back when her life seemed perfect. It was just her and her parents, baking cookies, watching movies, building cushion forts.

She missed them more than anything.

 **~.~.~.~.~**

The next morning Marinette's head was in agony, apparently the night's rest had done nothing.

Once again, Nathalie was the one to wake Marinette up. As soon as the door was opened, the first thing the woman picked out was Marinette's hoarse voice.

"Are you feeling alright?" Nathalie asked, though her face didn't change from its usual expression.

"Not really," Marinette replied, which was the truth. She had definitely strained her throat too much the night before and now it felt all scratchy, that paired with her still aching head made for a not too happy teenager.

Nathalie came to the conclusion that Marinette was sick and informed her that all previously scheduled appointments would be cancelled until she was better, something which Marinette more than readily accepted.

When Nathalie was finally gone Marinette sighed and started to get ready for the day. She would have loved to just stay in bed all day until her headache subsided, but she knew that a free weekend would be the best possible time to meet up with Adrien and work through their problem. They couldn't waste this chance. If they managed to switch back then he could deal with the sore throat and pounding head and she could just forget about everything she had seen and experienced, finally going back to her normal life.

"Last night sure was hilarious, eh?" Plagg had come to float beside her, but Marinette just ignored him as she pulled on a new set of clothes. She was still mad at him. Had Tikki been there she would have comforted her instead of doing nothing but laugh like a maniac. But of course, the black kwami didn't take the hint and continued. "Man, Adrien's never made me laugh that hard before. He's done plenty of funny things, but nothing like that!"

Marinette continued to pretend that she didn't hear him, she made sure to not make eye contact either, refusing to acknowledge his presence. Plagg finally started to pick up on what she was doing.

"What, are you not talking to me?" He sighed and rolled his eyes when she ignored him again. "Young humans can be so childish sometimes."

As if he could talk! Was she being childish? Yes, but so was he! She wanted to make a comeback, but held her tongue _'Just ignore him,'_ she told herself.

Marinette slowly made her way down the stairs, purposely taking as long as she could. Mealtime was the one time of the day that she dreaded the most. Sitting all alone in that suffocating room with nobody but Plagg to keep her company. This was the thing she hated most about Adrien's life, it felt like torture.

Just like she had the past two days, she entered the dining room, made her way around the table that could seat hundreds, and took her seat at the end where fresh food was being served. Today she was given porridge and tea that let off the sweet fragrance of honey and lemon. It seemed as though the news of her being "sick" was already passed down to the chefs.

There was a soft groan coming from Plagg inside of her shirt as he complained about the lack of cheese in her breakfast. She couldn't help the small smile that tugged at the corner of her lips, he deserved it.

As Marinette sat there poking lightly at the food, a shadow fell over the table. She looked up, expecting to see Nathalie, but was surprised by the person who stood before her.

"Oh, uh…d-dad!"

The sight of Gabriel was a shock. It was the third day after the switch, yet this was the first time she had seen Adrien's father. Although he didn't emit the same warm feelings that her parents did, just the presence of the man was enough to brighten her mood, company was all she craved.

"Adrien." He replied the greeting in a stiff and formal manner, as if she was his employee rather than his son. "Nathalie informed me that you were not feeling well. You can take it easy until you recover, but you will have to make up for everything that you missed later. I hope you recover quickly"

"That's fine, I don't mind," Marinette said, not caring about that as she was eager to get to her next point. "Are you going to join me for breakfast!" She was beaming, smile stretched from ear to ear in excitement.

Part of her knew it wasn't reasonable to ask him that, he didn't seem like the kind of person to sit down and eat breakfast, but still, when he turned away from her it hurt more than anything. Her heart sunk, excitement dying down.

"You know I am too busy for that." He had already started to walk away, the further he got the more she felt like her heart was being stabbed. Was he really a father? If her dad thought she was sick he would have sat with her as long as she wanted and constantly checked up on her until she was feeling better. Wasn't that what a parent was supposed to do?

"Oh, that's ok." She tried to stay positive as she forced a small smile. "Then will I be seeing you at dinner?"

He didn't even answer her question that time, instead he wished her to get well soon, turning back to give her a stiff nod before leaving the room. Nathalie came to stand beside her at the table.

"You should understand that your father is too busy with work for these kinds of things."

Marinette nodded, keeping her eyes fixed on the porridge in front of her. Nathalie, not knowing what else she could do or say, decided to leave the teen to his meal. Marinette only poked at the bowl of mush with the spoon, her thoughts elsewhere.

"Marinette," she mumbled to herself, causing Plagg to shoot her a confused look, "don't talk with your mouth full, Marinette clean your room, Marinette you're grounded. Marinette…" She had to choke out the last words, as an uneasy feeling rose from her stomach and caught in her throat. "W-we love you."

She wrapped her hands around her arms, feeling her bottom lip start to quiver. She bit down on it.

"Who knew I could miss my parent's this much, and after only two days. I've gone on school trips longer than this before and felt nothing." Her voice was barely above a whisper, eyes growing moist which she quickly squeezed shut to prevent any tears from leaking out.

She couldn't understand how Adrien lived like this, she never knew how lucky she had it before switching bodies with him. To have a family who nags you, jokes with you, loves you. Helping her parents in the bakery, playing video games with her father, cuddling up with her mother. A giant, empty house like this only felt like a prison compared to the small and comfortable space she lived in. How much longer was this going to go on for, when could she finally go back to her own life?

"I've lost my appetite." Marinette pushed away from the table and glumly made her way back to Adrien's room.

Plagg didn't complain or say anything this time as he silently followed behind her.

 **~.~.~.~.~**

Adrien was having a great morning!

He woke up with a bright ray of sunshine beaming in through the window, feeling comfortable and content. He had headed out to Marinette's balcony to water her flowers, mesmerized by their vibrant colours and the beautiful birdsong in the background.

Yes, his morning was perfect, but what made him truly happy that bright and sunny day was when he received a text from Marinette. She told him that she had gotten out of her scheduled appointments for the weekend. That news was like the cherry on top of the sundae. He would get to spend his entire weekend with his Lady and nothing could ruin it!

Since the switch Marinette had been busy with his appointments which were both physically and mentally draining. He was used to them and knew how to manage his free time well, but this was all new for her. While he never had problems showing up for late night patrols after his previous arrangements were finished, Marinette was too exhausted afterwards. He understood what she was going through, so he didn't mind.

The one time they were together had been a little awkward, they weren't yet used to spending time together as Marinette and Adrien rather than Ladybug and Chat Noir, but Adrien was hoping that would change after this weekend.

With all the time they had to spend together maybe they could hopefully grow a little more comfortable with each other outside of the masks. He knew that they were both becoming more comfortable with each other's bodies, now they just had to get used to each other's presence.

Adrien got ready for the day and set out as fast as he could.

The two had arranged to meet up in the park. They decided that instead of wasting their time continuously trying to purify the akuma they should instead try and think of a plan. When Adrien caught sight of the blonde headed boy entering the park, he started waving his arms like crazy with an excited smile.

"Over here!"

Marinette cautiously made her way towards her partner, glancing around behind her every couple of seconds. Tikki flew out of the purse Adrien wore and went straight towards Marinette, giving her a hug. Marinette smiled, she missed her kwami.

"What's the matter?" Adrien asked as he approached them. "You're on guard as if you're not supposed to be here."

"I'm not," she said with another glance back to the road, "I had to sneak out as Chat Noir. Hopefully if anyone enters your room they fall for the 'pillows under the blanket to look like a sleeping person' trick."

Adrien froze the second he heard her speak. "Your voice…"

Marinette turned back around to face him and the first thing she took notice of was his hair which was very obviously not still greasy like hers. "Your hair…"

"What happened?" They said in unison.

"Tell me about your voice first," Adrien said as he moved closer to her, his words tinged with worry. Was she feeling alright?

Before Marinette got the chance to say anything, Plagg was already floating in the air between them with a giant smile on his face. "Oh boy, wait until you hear this!"

Moving faster than lightening, Marinette snatched him out of the air and roughly shoved his big mouth against her chest, muffling everything he was trying to say.

"Sore throat!" She frantically shot out the first excuse she could think of. "It's just a sore throat, I must be coming down with something." She let out a couple of fake coughs to try and emphasize her point.

"Are you alright?" Adrien looked at her with concern in his eyes, he didn't want whatever she had to get worse from being out here with him instead of in bed. "You should probably go home and rest."

"I'm fine, really. But more importantly," she pointed towards his head, "your hair."

Adrien blushed a little at her comment. "Tikki told me I should have a shower," realizing what he just he had just said, he quickly put his hands up in front of him in a surrendering gesture, "but don't worry, I didn't look at anything."

Talking about showers only reminded Marinette of unpleasant memories from the night before. "G-good," she stuttered, trying to keep any embarrassment from showing on her face, "I would definitely, not once, never in my life look at anything in that situation, so you can't either."

Plagg let out a snort so she smushed him harder against her chest until he squeaked. Adrien could only look at them confused.

"Okay?"

"Let's just get down to strategizing." Marinette took his hand and led him to a park bench away from the listening ears of others.

"So I've been thinking," Marinette started once they were both seated on the bench, "couldn't we just switch our miraculouses with one another. I could purify the akuma and then everything would be fine."

Adrien scratched the back of his head. "W-well, that's definitely an option, but…"

"But?" Marinette cocked an eyebrow. "We could swap our bodies but we can't swap our powers?"

He sighed and glanced up at his partner. "I've already talked this over with Tikki and she told me that in order for a miraculous to work, you have to be wearing it and, well, your miraculous is a pair of earrings…"

"Then we'll just get your ears pierced, problem solved." Marinette said bluntly, it was a pretty obvious solution.

"W-what, no!" Adrien shot up from the bench and stood in a defensive position in front of Marinette as if she was going to get up and find the nearest piercing place right then and there. "Do you know what my dad would do to me if he found out I went and got my ears pierced without his permission? His wrath would be worse than anything Hawk Moth has thrown at us so far!"

"Do you want to fix this or not?"

"I do, b-but maybe there's another way that won't result in, you know, my dad never letting me leave the house again."

Marinette sighed. "Fine, but if we're not able to find any other ways to switch back then I _will_ get your ears pierced if it ends up being our only option."

Adrien let out a nervous laugh. "Then I'll make sure to find a way to change us back before that happens."

The two continued to bounce ideas off each other for a while, every now and then getting distracted and starting up a conversation about something else, before forcing themselves to go back to thinking up ideas.

They were both silent as they tried to think up solutions to their problem when Marinette's stomach let out a low growl. She crossed her arms over it in embarrassment.

"Hungry?" Adrien asked while holding back a laugh.

"A little," she replied, "I didn't eat breakfast today."

"Why not?"

Marinette looked away, being with Adrien had distracted her from that morning, but now that they were back on the subject all the feelings were starting to return to her. "I just…I miss my parents is all."

Adrien hummed. "I know what you mean, being at your house is so different than mine, but you should have told me sooner."

He continued when he saw her confusion at what he meant. "If you had told me then I could have invited you over for lunch earlier. So, what do you say?" He smiled at her reaction.

"Can I?" Her heart started to race in excitement of getting to not only see her parents, but to also eat her mother's cooking. It wasn't as though the food Adrien was given was bad, but it was more like something that you would get at a restaurant, it was nothing like a nice home cooked meal.

"Of course you can, it's your house after all. Besides, your parents are really nice, I'm sure they would allow it.

Marinette jumped off the bench excitedly. "Adrien you're the best, I could just hug you!"

Flashing her a cocky smile, Adrien let his Chat poke through as he spread his arms wide in a welcoming gesture. "I'm ready and waiting."

Marinette let out a laugh. "Don't get ahead of yourself, kitty." She playfully poked his nose away just as Ladybug would always do. The feeling made his heart flutter. It wasn't until he finally realized that she was already making her way towards her house when he turned to follow her.

"Mom, dad." Adrien greeted Marinette's parents as soon as they entered the bakery.

"Back already?" Sabine smiled and took him into a hug which he readily accepted.

Marinette was shocked to say the least. When did Adrien get so close to her parents, he had only been living as her for a couple of days. While she could barely talk to Nathalie even though she saw the woman every day, Adrien already looked like had always been a member of her family. And hugs? He just casually went and gave her mom a hug. Something about it unsettled her, that was _her_ mom, not his.

"Adrien, it's nice to see you again."

Marinette was drawn from her thoughts by a voice she would recognize anywhere. Turning, she saw her dad standing beside her holding a tray of pastries.

She felt her breath catch in her throat, it had only been a couple days since she saw him last but felt like she hadn't seen him in ages. She wanted nothing more than for him to wrap his arms around her, giving her the bear hug that she loved so much. She wanted to say something, but felt she might accidentally say the wrong thing, so instead she just smiled and nodded a greeting.

Adrien pulled away from Sabine and looked between Marinette's parents. "I was wondering if it would be okay for Adrien to stay for lunch."

Tom let out a laugh and patted Marinette's shoulder. It wasn't a hug, but the touch still made her feel warm. "Of course he can."

With that, Tom's hand left her shoulder, the warmth leaving along with it. Then he made his way towards Adrien and gave him the very hug that she wanted, the hug that should have been hers. A feeling that she wasn't used to began to spread throughout her chest. Was she…jealous? Jealous that Adrien got to be with her family instead of her?

She silently followed Adrien as he led her to the stairs.

"So," Marinette murmured when they were finally out of earshot, "when did you get so close to my parents?"

 _My_ parents, she silently repeated to herself.

"I've been spending a lot of time with them so of course we've gotten close, they're great and so easy to get along with, I really like them." His smile told her that he meant every word he said.

"But it's only the third day after the switch, how much time could you have spent with them?" She asked.

"Well, what else do you think I've been doing while you were busy?"

His comment made her want to face palm, how could she not have realized that. She had been so busy after school the past two days that she never considered what Adrien had been up to. While she had so much going on, he would have had nothing but free time on his hands. Obviously he had to have been spending time with her parents, it wasn't as if he just sat in her room doing nothing when they weren't together. Even so, knowing that still didn't make her feel any better.

"Oh," was all she could say.

Marinette spent the next while sitting on the chaise in her room with Adrien, listening to him tell her everything he had done with her parents in only two days. Video games, board games, watching TV, helping out in the bakery, he had spent way more time with them then she usually did. Everything he told her about were things that she should have been doing instead, not modelling, fencing or trying to take showers and seeing things that couldn't be unseen.

When she finally felt as though she couldn't take any more, the two were finally called down for lunch. Marinette sighed in relief, hopefully this meal would help her forget about the fact that she was missing out on her own life. She could finally spend some time with her parents.

"Honey, could you set the table please?" Sabine asked Adrien as she took a quiche out of the oven. Adrien agreed excitedly.

Marinette could only stare at him. Excited, he was actually _excited_ , and about setting the table no less. She watched as Adrien happily got the plates from the cupboard and started setting them around the table.

"So Adrien," Sabine started once everyone was seated at the table, a piece of quiche and some vegetables on their plates, "what have you been up to lately?"

Marinette smiled at finally getting to have a conversation with her parents, their attention drifting away from Adrien and onto her. "I've been pretty busy with modelling and fencing." She didn't know what else to tell them, all she had done since becoming Adrien was model and fence, and try to take a shower but she wouldn't include that. She had no clue what Adrien did in his free time considering she hadn't gotten a chance to have any.

"Are you sick?" Tom asked after Marinette had spoken, concern in his voice.

Marinette smiled and held her hands up in front of her. "It's just a sore throat, it should be gone by tomorrow." It was nice, having a father who seemed to care.

"I was surprised that he had a sore throat," Adrien commented about himself, knowing that his immune system was really good, "Adrien usually doesn't get sick."

Once again, her parents' gazes were drawn away from her as they brought their attention back to Adrien. Marinette quietly grumbled to herself as he started telling them some of the stuff they had talked about in the park, obviously excluding anything akuma related.

Marinette looked away, how long was he going to talk to them for, when would they pay attention to her again? She bit down hard on a piece of quiche and was startled by the sudden pain as her teeth smashing against the fork.

"Ow," she commented while rubbing her cheek, "I bit the fork."

Her statement caused Adrien and her father to exchange glances before burst out in laughter, leaving Marinette to stare at them in confusion.

"Did I say something funny?" She asked.

"Oh," Adrien tried to speak in between laughs, "it's…it's an inside joke. You see, last night…"

Marinette tuned him out as he went on about whatever had happened the night before. _Inside jokes_ , they even had their own _inside jokes_ now! And where was she during all this, was it when she was fencing or when she was curled up in Adrien's bed missing her family that didn't even know their daughter was gone.

What was this, what was happening? If she had been a stranger watching the scene before her she would never have guessed that the girl setting the table wasn't actually the daughter of the family. Why did Adrien seem like a proper member of _her_ family? _She_ should be the one sitting in that seat laughing away about funny events that happened the day before, not _him_.

This lunch was supposed to make her feel better, getting to see _her_ family who she so desperately missed, but what did she get instead? Instead she got to see how well Adrien had taken her place, she got to see him living _her_ life. Her parents didn't even realize that she was gone, they didn't realize how much she missed them, or how lonely she felt every time she had to return to Adrien's house.

It wasn't fair. How come she had to suffer in Adrien's life while he was living it up in hers?

Before she knew it, lunch was over. Adrien gathered everyone's plates and placed them in the sink.

"Want me to help you do the dishes?" He offered, looking as though doing the dishes was something exciting.

Sabine waved him away. "That's ok, you have company over, go have fun."

Tom laughed. "What's been happening to you lately Mari; waking up early and always offering to help us out around the house and bakery."

Marinette resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Great, not only had he replaced her but he was also a better daughter than her too.

They returned to Marinette's room where Adrien had brought the kwamis some food.

"Your parents' cooking is amazing, I could eat it every day," he commented with a satisfied expression on his face.

Marinette only felt the unpleasant feelings in her stomach grow, everything about this wasn't fair at all!

"You would really like that, wouldn't you," she mumbled before she could stop herself.

Adrien turned around to look at her confused. "Hm?"

Marinette couldn't hold herself back anymore. It was as though every emotion that she felt, everything that she had kept bottled inside, was finally exploding out of her.

"It's not fair!"

"What?" Adrien was genuinely confused. "Marinette, what do you mean?"

"You, this, everything! Stop, just stop!" She shouted, pulling at her greasy hair.

"Am…am I doing something wrong?" He could feel guilt prick at his heart, he didn't know what he did but he hated the thought of hurting his Lady in any way.

"Yes, you are," she spat, "you're stealing my life, and you're enjoying it!"

He was taken aback by her statement. What did she mean? "Stealing your life? Marinette, I really don't know what you're talking about right now." He tried to reach out and touch her but she shoved his hand away.

She only grew angrier at him not being aware of anything. "While I'm stuck in your life you're living in mine like it's the best thing that's ever happened to you!"

What could he even say to that, was this really how she felt?

"Maybe…" he looked away, "maybe this is the best thing that's ever happened to me."

"Well you don't have to be enjoying it so much, especially in front of me!"

"Is it so wrong," he asked, looking up to meet her eyes, "is it so wrong that I'm enjoying it?"

"Yes," she shot back "yes it is! This is _my_ life, but I'm forced to live yours instead. Do you know what it's like to watch somebody else living happily while you're suffering?"

Her question struck him hard, digging deep into his skin in a way that brought up emotions he wasn't used to feeling.

"Do I know what it's like?" He asked, trying to keep his cool. "What about you, do _you_ even know what it's like living as me?"

"What do you think, I've been doing it for the past couple of days-"

"Of course you don't understand," his voice shook and he had to clench the fabric of Marinette's shirt in his fists, "you've only lived as me for two days, how could you possibly know anything. For you this is only something temporary, once we find a way to change back you can return to your normal, happy life, but that's not the case with me at all."

He continued. "Photoshoots, fencing, basketball, Chinese, piano, interviews, and when that's all done I get the pleasure of returning home to an empty house where I can sit by myself for dinner. Trying, _with all my might_ , to get my father to spend some time with me, to eat with me, even to just have a normal conversation with me. That's all that my sorry excuse of a life consists of. In my life there is no end, it's not like once everything is solved I'll be able to go back to a warm home with a loving family like you will. This is what my life is like, and this is how it always will be."

His voice was slowly rising until it got to the point that he was nearly shouting at her, letting everything out.

"Do _you_ know what it's like, knowing that years from now your life isn't going to change, it won't get any better, it won't ever be like yours. Your life, your parents, are so different; they hug you and kiss you and tell you to have a nice day at school. Do you know what that means to me? They make me feel like somebody loves me, like somebody _actually_ cares about me. This is the life that I crave, the life that I _know_ I will never have. You asked me if I knew what it's like to watch somebody else living happily while I was suffering, well, what do you think _every day_ of my life is like? Watching _every_ family but mine acting like a _real_ family. Why can't I enjoy this, living as you? Is it really so wrong? Can I not experience this happiness at least a little before I'm thrown back to the reality of being Adrien!"

The room went silent once he was finished, nothing could be heard except for his heavy breathing. Marinette didn't know what to say, she could only stand there stare at him as warm liquid ran down her already wet cheeks. She didn't know when the tears had started but they showed no signs of stopping. Adrien's breaths grew shuddery as he squeezed shut his now wet and swollen red eyes.

Marinette looked away, biting down her lips as she resisted the urge to let out a sob. What could she possibly say to that? Everything he said was true and she was finally starting to come to her senses. She didn't have a great start to the day, and seeing Adrien getting to be so happy while she wasn't only made her feel worse. She had taken out her frustration and anger on him, placing the blame for how she was feeling on his being happy. Her entire argument was an unreasonable one, why did she snap at him like she did?

She clenched her fists and kept her head down, she couldn't possibly meet Adrien's eyes. She just wanted to get out of there, just wanted to go home and curl up in a ball and forget about everything.

"I…I think I should leave."

* * *

 **In the end, being heroes doesn't make our duo exempt from feeling normal human emotions.**

 **Finally, I am FINALLY done this chapter, I struggled with it so much! I kept procrastinating it because I wasn't really sure how to write an argument between Marinette and Adrien. I'm really hoping I got across how they were feeling and that their argument was believable, if not or if they were too OOC you can let me know and I can edit the chapter anytime.**

 **Also, there are some things in the story that I don't notice or take into consideration until people mention them in the comments, some examples being why don't they switch their miraculouses or did Adrien see the photos of himself in Mari's room, so if you notice anything that I may have forgotten or not considered you should mention it so I can include it in the story so there's no plot holes or anything like that.**

 **I hope you enjoyed the update, I've already started working on the next chapter!**


	8. Chapter 8

Adrien sat on Marinette's chaise, arms hugging his knees tightly to his chest. There was a plate of freshly baked cookies that sat untouched on the floor by the trapdoor. Normally the scent of warm cookies with gooey chocolate chips would have his mouth watering within seconds, but right now the smell only made him feel nauseous. Even Tikki couldn't bring herself to eat anything with the mood that filled the room.

The cookies were one of the many attempts that Marinette's parents had made to try and cheer him up, to get him to talk to them. He knew they must have heard all the yelling from his and Marinette's argument the day before, he would have been surprised if they hadn't heard, but he refused to speak to them about anything.

First they had tried talking to him, asking what happened and if everything was alright, placing their warm, comforting hands on his back in a soothing gesture. He shoved them away, both their gentle hands and loving voices. They weren't his parents, they were Marinette's. He didn't deserve to be comforted by them, especially not after what he did to their daughter.

They respected his wishes to be alone and instead began to leave out plates of Marinette's favourite food and treats. He couldn't bring himself to touch any of it, they weren't meant for him.

Tikki had also made her own attempts with him. She told him that it wasn't his fault for what happened, that he shouldn't should all the blame, but he refused to listen to her. Their argument was _his_ fault, he knew that. The only reason Marinette had gotten mad was because she was feeling feel lonely and sad, and he had done nothing about it, he only made it worse.

Tikki explained that he really should talk over everything with Marinette. "Things won't get any better unless you talk to her about it," she had said.

That only made the pit in his stomach grow. How could he possibly face her after what he did?

Sabine poked her head up through the trapdoor, taking notice of the untouched cookies with a sad expression on her face before looking back to her daughter. Adrien could see her in his peripheral vision but didn't acknowledge her presence.

"Marinette," she said softly, in a loving, motherly sort of way that made him sick, "Alya's here, can she come up?"

With all their failed attempts to console her, Marinette's parents had apparently moved onto the only other strategy they could think of. They probably thought that Alya could get through to him, to find out the problem and maybe help him. He wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone, yet some part of his conscious also prevented him from denying the request. Maybe Tikki's words were getting to him, he couldn't bring himself to face Marinette, but maybe Alya could help. Without looking at Marinette's mother, he gave a small nod.

He could practically see the smile of relief that flashed over Sabine's features as her head disappeared back through the trapdoor. A couple of seconds later Alya emerged from it, closing the door gently below her. She made her way over to the chaise and sat down next to him. She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder which he immediately shrugged off, he didn't deserve her comfort either, he just wanted to hear what she had to say.

"Can you tell me what's wrong? Your parents didn't give me any details, they hardly know anything themselves as it is."

"Nothing's wrong," he mumbled.

"Don't even think for a second that I'm going to believe that." Her voice was firm, yet still consoling, as if she did this often. This only made Adrien feel worse. He didn't deserve any of this, for Marinette's friends and family to worry about him when they should be worried about her instead.

He sighed. He didn't want to talk about it or go into specific details, but this conversation wasn't going to get anywhere unless he said something.

"I-I had an argument with Adrien." He had to look away from her, not wanting to see the look on her face. He knew she didn't know that he actually had a fight with her best friend, but he still couldn't face her.

"An argument? With Adrien?" She asked. He could hear the confusion in her voice. "What could that have possibly been about? Adrien is the most passive person I've ever seen. I know you can have arguments with people like Chloe, but with _Adrien_?"

He was tempted to let out a dry and bitter laugh, but held it in. _'Apparently I'm not as passive as you think,'_ he silently said himself before continuing.

"I don't want to go into the details, but…" he finally turned to her, though he let his gaze rest anywhere but on her eyes, "let's just say it was bad."

Alya leaned in closer and tried to move herself so she was in his line of sight, but that just made him dart his eyes away. "What do you mean?" She asked. "How bad was it?"

"It was bad, really bad…and I said some things that really…that really hurt him I think." He could feel tears start to sting his eyes but held them back. The tears had been tempting to come out since his fight with Marinette, but he felt like crying would be like pitying himself, and he was the last person who deserved pity.

"Marinette," Alya said, looking at him concerned," I don't know what the argument was over, but I know you and what kind of person you are. I don't think whatever you said to him could have been that ba-"

"I made him cry, Alya!" Adrien lost himself, the tears that had been waiting at the edges of his eyes finally exploded out if him, flowing down his cheeks in waterfalls. "He was crying! The one person…" he hiccupped, "the one person I never wanted to see sad, who I never wanted to feel pain or sorrow. He was crying, and I was the cause behind it. _I_ made him cry, _I_ made him hurt, _I_ made him feel pain!"

Alya instantly gathered him into a hug, wrapping her arms around his neck and bringing him down into her chest. He didn't pull away this time, burying his face deeper into her clothes, his sobs muffled by the fabric that was growing damp. Alya gently stroked the top of his head and spoke softly.

"So maybe you said something you shouldn't have, but like I told you before, I _know_ you Marinette. I know that you wouldn't ever say something without some kind of reason behind it. Adrien must have done something to provoke you, whether it was intentional or not."

 _'But I'm_ not _Marinette, you_ don't _know me,'_ he wanted to say so badly, but restrained himself.

"Adrien didn't do anything wrong," he sobbed. "The reason he got mad was because I was being insensitive, I made him hurt and then he snapped. His reason for getting mad was justifiable, but then I only made things worse by getting mad back, by hurting him even further."

"Okay, I understand." Alya spoke softly, then pushed him away and took his face in her hands, lifting it up so he was looking right at her. "Adrien is a kind person, he's reasonable and understanding. I'm afraid that this isn't something I can help you overcome. Nothing will get better unless you talk this over with him."

Adrien felt like groaning, now she was starting to sound like Tikki.

Alya gripped his shoulders firmly. "Marinette, I know you've gotten closer to Adrien over the past couple of days, something which I will question you about once this is all over, but you can't let this sudden progress go to waste. I know how much you love Adrien, so I know you can find a way to fix this."

Her comment made him jerk, suddenly willing to stare back at her eyes. "Love?"

For him, this entire conversation he had been referring to Marinette so saying he loved her was perfectly normal, but from Alya's point of view he was Marinette and they were talking about Adrien. She wasn't saying that Adrien loved Marinette, she was saying that Marinette loved Adrien. It felt like his entire body had gone numb as he tried to process what she had said.

"I…love Adrien?" He knew he was supposed to be Marinette and should just go along with whatever people expected him to know, but he couldn't help the question from slipping past his lips.

"Yes silly," Alya said giving his head another pat, "and when you truly love someone you'll try everything you can to make up with them. In fact, sometimes arguments can even help relationships to grow stronger."

Alya wiped some stray tears away from Adrien's eyes. "That's all the advice I can give, what happens next is up to you." She stood up and made her way towards the trap door. She opened it and paused before going down. "The decision is yours, I hope you make the right one."

With that she descended through the door and it was closed after her with a light thump, leaving Adrien in silence. Tikki emerged from the spot she had taken under the chaise and floated up to rest on Adrien's shoulder.

He turned to look at her with wide eyes, like a frightened kitten. "Marinette…loves me? Why, how, since when?" He clenched the edge of his shirt. "What am I supposed to do now?"

Tikki gave him a smile before flying over to the desk where she picked up Marinette's phone. She slowly made her way back to Adrien, struggling to carry the device which was larger than her and gently plopped it into his hands.

"Call her," she said whilst smiling, "talk to her, about everything, that's the only way things will get better."

"But," Adrien glanced down at the dark screen with worry, "what if she doesn't want to talk to me?"

Tikki pushed on his fingers, folding them around the phone.

"You'll never know unless you try."

 **~.~.~.~.~**

Marinette was curled up on Adrien's bed. That's where she had gone the moment she returned home the day before, and that's where she had remained up until that point. Meals had been brought to her room but she didn't have any appetite. The cold meals would be replaced with fresh ones whenever someone came by, but it was only a wasted effort.

At one point she had been told that she would never get better unless she ate something. Everyone thought that her lack of an appetite was due to still being "sick," but nobody except Plagg knew the true reason behind it.

"Just apologize to him already," the black kwami was telling her for probably the hundredth time that day.

She only turned around in the bad so she wasn't facing him, tired of his chiding. This caused him to sigh in annoyance. It wasn't as easy as he seemed to think. Her and Adrien, her and Chat, they had never had an argument before. Ever. This was something foreign to her, she didn't know how to fix this problem. She had really hurt Adrien, like jamming a knife into his most sensitive area and digging it in deep, all because she needed to take out her frustration on someone. This wasn't something that a simple apology could fix.

Plagg flew over to the other side of the bed so he was in her line of sight again.

"You have to apologize," he nagged her once more, earning himself a glare from Marinette. He moved in closer, sitting on the bed beside the pillow. "I thought you loved him, if so then why not just _apologize_ and end this argument already."

Marinette lifted her head slightly to stare at him, an unimpressed look of confusion on her face. "And how could you possibly know that?" She let out a breath and flopped her head back down on the pillow. "Oh yeah, the pictures."

"Hey, give me some credit," Plagg complained, "I'm an immortal being who's been around for thousands of years, there are some things you just learn to pick up on whether you care about them or not. No matter what century it is you humans always act strange when in love. Don't worry though, I haven't told Adrien anything about that, but you won't be able to either if you never patch things up by _talking to him_."

Marinette kept her gaze focused on anything but him and Plagg let out a long sigh. When he spoke again his tone was softer, less angry and annoyed. "Knowing Adrien, he probably blames himself for the entire argument."

"That's not possible." Marinette turned her hear so she could look at the kwami. "No matter how you look at it, this argument was entirely my fault. Of course Adrien would get mad considering what I said to him. He couldn't possibly blame himself for this."

"Trust me," Plagg said shooting her a sideways glance, "I know the kid, and he blames himself."

"And like I said," Marinette continued, "there's no way he could blame himself."

"But he does," Plagg said through clenched teeth, starting to lose his patience.

Marinette was also growing increasingly annoyed. "How could he possibly think this is his fault?"

"Because you told him it was!" Plagg snapped. The kwami who was known for being laidback and never taking anything seriously actually snapped. His voice lowered down to almost a whisper and he spoke with a tinge of sadness. "What would you expect? You pretty much told him that he was the reason you were feeling so miserable, do you even know what that means to him? The stupid kid looks up to you more than anything, so how do you think he wold feel when the person he admires the most says something like that to him?"

Marinette could feel her stomach turning into knots, instantly beginning to feel guilty. Not only did she hurt Adrien, but had she also put him through the torture of blaming himself? She glanced back at the little kwami who sat there with a mixture of sadness and concern on his face.

"You…you really care about him, don't you?" She asked.

"Of course I do," he mumbled, "I'm all he's got. Who else is there to take care of a kid like him who bottles up all his emotions and blames himself for everything that goes wrong?"

Marinette watched him for a couple of moments. She was beginning to feel anxious but she pushed the feeling down, she knew what she had to do.

"You're not alone." Gathering up her strength, Marinette reached over to the night side table where Adrien's phone lay. She picked it up and stared down at the screen. "I'll be there too, to help you take care of him that is."

She dialed her number and held the cold device to her ear. The phone hadn't even finished its first ring before the call was accepted, as though Adrien had been sitting there with her phone ready to call as well.

"H-hi," he said nervously.

"Hi…" she knew she had to get right to the point, "do you want to meet up?"

 **~.~.~.~.~**

Ladybug sat on the edge of the Eiffel Tower staring off into the sunset. The sky looked like a grapefruit, starting with a yellowish-orange and fading into a deep pink on the horizon. She had always loved coming here as Ladybug and watching the sun descend. It was one of her favourite spots in Paris, but that evening she felt far from happy. Anxious butterflies fluttered around in her stomach.

She heard him before she could see him, a soft thud that echoed with a metal ting as he landed on the tower. Turning her head just enough to see behind her, she caught sight the red clad figure approaching in the dim evening light. His head was lowered slightly, causing shadows to cover his face. Though she couldn't see his expression, Ladybug could tell it was the same as hers, neither happy nor sad.

"Hey." His voice was soft, unsure if that was the proper greeting to use.

"Hey," she replied without meeting his eyes.

Chat paused for a moment before lowering himself down and taking a seat beside her on the edge of the tower. The two sat in an awkward silence, each waiting for the other to start the conversation. It felt as though they were strangers, not knowing what to say to one another.

Ladybug opened her mouth to speak, letting it hang there for a moment before closing it, unsure of where to begin. She opened her mouth again, trying to let the conversation flow as easily as it usually did between them, but still nothing came out. As she tried to consider what to say and how to talk to him, Chat spoke up first.

"I'm really sorry," he gazed down at his hands which were clamped together in his lap, "it was wrong of me to have snapped at you like I did, for me to…let out all of my burdens on you."

Ladybug whipped her head to the side in his direction, not able to stop herself from shouting out at him. "What do you mean _you're_ sorry!" Her sudden reply caused Chat to jump, startled by her response. "You have _nothing_ to be sorry about, it…it was my fault. It was _all_ my fault." Ladybug clenched her eyes shut, admitting to her mistake from the day before.

Chat sat there stunned. Was that really what she thought, that it was her fault for their fight?

"But," he started, "I was the one who yelled at you, I was the one who lost control of my emotions."

Ladybug could feel tears prick the corners of her eyes. Was Plagg right? Had this silly cat of hers seriously blamed himself for all of this, did he spend the entire day thinking that the argument _she_ started was something he should shoulder the blame for?

"You stupid cat," Ladybug wiped at her eyes before any of the tears could burst through, "you did nothing wrong. I was the one who lost control of my emotions. Seeing you with my family having a wonderful time, watching you live my life to the fullest…I-I was jealous. I had thought 'why do you get to live happily in my life while I have to suffer in yours?' You shouldn't feel guilty for _any_ of this, it was _all_ my fault. I let my emotions and jealously get the better of me, how you responded was reasonable, I went too far. I shouldn't have hurt you like that."

"But I was no different," he said, clenching his hands together so tightly that he knew his knuckles would be going white under his suit, "I snapped, I let out everything that I have ever bottled up over time on you. I knew what kind of life you would have been living while being me. I was really enjoying your life, and part of me wanted to…I don't know, show off how wonderful everything was going. It was insensitive of me to act as I did in front of you, I never considered how you would feel. I know better than anyone what it's like seeing a perfect family and wishing my life could be the same, yet I let you feel exactly that yesterday."

Ladybug looked at him, shocked.

"You can't say that," she raised her voice into a shout, "that wasn't your fault, stop blaming yourself. I started the argument!"

"And I continued it!" He shot back.

The two fell silent again, not wanting to get into another fight.

"I guess we're both to blame," Ladybug whispered.

Chat nodded and the awkward silence from before returned. Had they settled their argument? It didn't seem like it, things still didn't feel right. They both accepted that it was their fault, but that didn't make everything better. This was their first argument, they didn't know end it and move on.

"Even if we fight, my feelings for you will never change," Chat spoke up, trying to break the tension. "You know, your ability to accept your mistakes so easily is one of the reasons I fell in love with you. It's a very admirable trait and something that many people struggle to do. It's a lot harder than you would think to accept when you've done something wrong."

He leaned back and cast her a sideways glance, a smile spreading across his face. "Of course, that's not the only reason I love you, there are many more. I could provide you with an entire list of things I love about Ladybug, and now, since I know who you are under the mask, I could give you another list of the things I love about Marinette. Care to hear?"

"I'll pass, for some reason I get the feeling that once you start we'll end up being here all night until you're finished," she spoke softly and let out a light laugh.

He chuckled along with her, their conversation finally starting to flow like it normally would between them. He remembered his talk with Alya earlier that day and he couldn't stop the question from leaving his lips.

"What made you fall in love with me?"

Ladybug's eyes widened in horror and a red blush could be seen peeking out from below her black mask. Chat quickly raised his hands up in defense. "Alya mentioned it to me, well, it's not like she knew that it was me she was talking to in the first place."

Ladybug shuddered a sigh and looked towards the sky, the blush still resting on her cheeks. "Well, I guess that's one less thing to worry about. Actually, now that you know it feels like a weight is finally being lifted off my chest, I don't have to worry about you finding out anymore."

Chat smiled. "You fell in love with Adrien instead of Chat Noir, but what could you possibly love about a flawed person like him? Most girls like that side of me because simply because I'm a rich model, but I know you're not most girls."

Ladybug hummed and closed her eyes, what was the harm in letting everything out now that he knew. "Well, this might sounds cheesy but, I fell in love with your kindness. You're the kind of person who cares about everyone and does his best to make everyone happy. Even when it comes to people like Chloe, you don't get mad at her because you don't want to hurt her feelings. I know you say that it's because you're childhood friends, but you would do the same even if it was a stranger. You're the type of person who goes out of their way to do random acts of kindness, something I've witnessed more than once, without expecting anything in return."

Letting her eyelids flutter open, Ladybug turned to face him with a light smile. "Someone with good morals and a strong heart who cares about everyone around him, that's the person I fell in love with."

Chat could only stare back at her with his mouth agape, he could have sworn his face was as red as the mask he wore, but he could care less. This is the girl he fell in love with, the girl who also loved him back. This was Marinette, his Lady, and in that moment he wanted nothing more than to pull her into an embrace, hold onto her and never let go so she wouldn't have to experience any form of pain. He would love this amazing girl regardless of what they went through. Even if they were in each other's bodies, even if they were stuck like that for life, it didn't matter as long as he could be with her.

"A-and," he stuttered, trying to recover from his love-struck state, "what about Chat? I hate to tell you, but Chat and Adrien are a package deal, you can't have one without the other. So, what do you love about Chat? Oh, I know, you think I'm very punny don't you?" He paired the last part with his signature Chat grin which still didn't look right when used on Ladybug's face.

A smile tugged at the corners of Ladybug's lips. She never thought she would see the day when one of Chat's puns could actually brighten her mood. "I guess sometimes your puns aren't _too_ bad, but you shouldn't test my patience."

"My Lady!" He said, bringing a hand to his chest and pretending to be shocked. "It sounds like you're accusing me of using too many puns, but I know would never _bug_ you like that."

Ladybug responded with an over exaggerated sigh and a face palm, though she still wore a smile. The little exchange made them both feel better. This was how it was supposed to be with them, jokes and a conversation that flowed as easily as water.

Chat stared off into the distance at the sun which dipped further into the horizon. Above them the sky was beginning to turn a deep cobalt blue with the faintest glimmer of stars making their first appearance.

"You know, it looked just like this back then too."

Ladybug followed his gaze, a feeling of nostalgia washing over her as they sat there together taking in the sight before them.

"You mean when we first met, right?"

He nodded. "Right after we defeated our first akuma we came here just as the sun was setting."

Ladybug couldn't help but cover her mouth and let out a little laugh. "Oh yeah, the one who wanted to make everyone's voices higher pitched so his would sound deep, that's one I'll never forget."

Her soft laugh was infectious and Chat Noir couldn't help but follow suit. The two heroes recalled the memories from their first day of saving Paris together when they had both been struck by the villain's powers and spent the rest of the battle sounding like they were on helium.

"You sounded just like a chipmunk," Ladybug's laughter was reduced to giggles and she gave Chat a playful shove.

"What, and you didn't?" He lightly nudged her back with his shoulder, a smile playing on his lips.

Their laughter echoed across the top of Paris as they began to share more memoires from their early days as heroes.

Finally, the two settled back down and once again looked back out at the now darkening sky.

"We had no clue what we were doing back then," Ladybug said softly.

"We still don't." Chat made a sweeping gesture of their bodies to remind her of their situation.

"I guess you're right," she agreed. "We were able to make it through that first battle because of each other and we were able to survive all the other dangerous situations we've faced since then by relying on one another. Being Ladybug and Chat Noir, it's not something we can do alone."

Ladybug turned to look at the person who sat beside her, lights from the Eiffel Tower illuminating his red suit and dark hair. He was her classmate, her crush, her partner and her friend; someone whose importance to her couldn't change no matter how many arguments they got in. With her green eyes locked on his blue ones, she took a deep breath.

"Adrien, I need you, we'll never be able to fix this problem we're in unless we do it together. We may have had our first argument, and we might have more in the future, but it isn't something we should let get in the way of us, of our partnership. Can we go back to being partners, just like we were before? Can…can you forgive me?"

Chat smiled at her question, finding it rather silly. "Marinette, we never stopped being partners. Do you really think a little argument like that could break us apart? We're an unstoppable duo, the best Paris has ever seen if you ask me. I will forgive you a million times over if only you'll forgive me as well."

Seeing his Lady's face brighten beneath her mask was all he ever needed in life. If she was happy then so was he. He was startled, however, by what happened next..

Ladybug leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, locking him in a warm embrace, the warmest he had ever felt. His chin rested on her shoulder, her blonde hair tickling his cheek. Finally recovering from the shock, he slowly lifted his arms and returned the gesture, wrapping them tightly around her, not wanting to ever let her go. In that moment, everything felt right, as though they belonged together like that.

"Of course I forgive you," she whispered, "and you can always come to me whenever you need to let everything out."

They were partners, and nothing could ever change that.

A smirk tugged on Chat's lips. "Is my mind playing tricks on me or is this a ladyhug?"

"Don't ruin it."

* * *

 **I have to say, t** **hank you so much to everyone who reads this story! You're all so amazing and all of your reviews make me laugh and smile and really encourage me to keep writing this. I'm so surprised from how much this story has grown since I first started writing it. Originally I had only planned for it to be 8 chapters long, but with your encouragement and positive responses I kept expanding and adding to it and now here we are, chapter 8 with still more to come! I'm so glad that you're enjoying it and hope that you'll like all the future chapters to come!**

 **I really hope you enjoyed this update, and have a great day!**


	9. Chapter 9

Ladybug leapt from one building to the next under a hazy purple sky, the rooftops slick with early morning dew but her enhanced abilities from the miraculous magic helped her glide across them with ease. She stopped atop one roof, crouching on it in a catlike position as she scanned the expanse of a city below her.

"Can you see him, my little Kit-Cat?"

A female voice sounded from behind Ladybug, accompanied by the familiar zip of her yo-yo.

"Don't call me that Chat," she replied, glancing to the side as the red clad hero landed next to her.

Their eyes locked for a brief moment as tough drawn to each other while they sat together beneath the slowly brightening sky, sun just peaking over the horizon.

Marinette broke the contact first, snapping her head back to focus on the city below. There was a tightening feeling in her chest that felt the same as how she used to feel when around Adrien. This was her partner Chat, a person she never before had feelings for who also currently wore her face which made her feelings slightly awkward, but still, above all else he was Adrien, the boy she couldn't help but love, and she had seen more of his body in the past week than she has ever seen of another boy in her entire life.

The past several days had been hectic to say the least, but during them her crush was the last thing on her mind. So why now? Was it because only a couple of hours ago she and Adrien had their little heart to heart?

Ladybug shook her head to clear those thoughts. Now wasn't the time for that, they had an akuma to catch.

Chat noticed the action.

"Are you ok?"

"I'm fine, just trying to concentrate."

After their apologies Ladybug and Chat had continued to laugh and share stories throughout the night as they sat in the brilliant lights of the Eiffel Tower. Easily losing track of time they ended up chatting all night until the sky turned a lighter shade of blueish purple. That was when they sensed the akuma. After being Paris' heroes for a while they had developed something similar to a sixth sense, knowing when there's an akuma before they can see it.

The two fell silent once more as they scanned the surrounding area. Ladybug's cat ears twitched, picking up the faint sound of screams in the distance.

Though the light was still dim, Chat noticed Ladybug's body tense up.

"Where is he?"

Ladybug pointed in the direction of their school.

"Somewhere over there."

Chat grinned. "Right. After you My Lady." He gave his partner a small curtsey and waited for her to leap from the rooftop before following after her. He could have used his yo-yo and gone ahead of her as it was a faster travel method, but he was used to following behind his Ladybug and watching her back as she went. Although it was a different back now, it was the same person.

A warm smile crept onto his face as he watched his partner in front of him. This was his partner and his love, so strong and confident. Chat's smile started to falter. He wasn't anything like her, self-conscious and unable to stand up for others while in his civilian form. Maybe one day he would be worthy enough to stand next to her, no longer feeling as though he was only allowed to watch her from behind.

Chat had to stifle a giggle as he thought about the past several days. He had gone through plenty of embarrassing moments while in Marinette's body. His Lady on the other hand probably hadn't been embarrassed by anything while in his body.

"What's so funny?" Ladybug looked behind her in confusion.

Chat gave her a Chesire sized grin. "Nothing, I was thinking of something."

Before even reaching the school, the two could already locate the akuma. By then the sun had fully made its way above the horizon, lighting up the sky and Paris with its golden rays.

The akumatized victim called himself Expandor and he wore an outfit similar to that of a construction worker. His power allowed him to absorb people to become larger and stronger. By the time Ladybug and Chat had reached him he was nearly as tall as most of the buildings.

Chat was the first to leap into action, launching himself at Expandor.

"You sure are causing some _big_ problems, aren't you!" He shouted, taking out his yo-yo and whipping it forward. He moved flung the yo-yo skillfully to it to wrap around Expandor's arm and tugging it tight.

"You're getting a lot better with that," Ladybug commented as she leaped over to stand next to her partner.

"It pleases me to hear my Kitten say that. I've been practising you know." He ended off his statement with a wink.

Ladybug felt a thump in her chest, but she didn't have time to ponder over the feelings though because Chat was suddenly flung in their air.

Expandor had yanked his arm in an attempt to free it and in turn was now swinging Chat around in the air as if he was the yo-yo.

Ladybug went back into her serious mode, taking out her baton.

 _'You better work!'_ she mentally shouted to it. She positioned and aimed the baton, willing for it to extend. The end shot out and slammed into Expandor's arm. The impact was hard enough to untie the yo-yo and send Chat flying.

 _'He'll be fine,'_ she thought as her partner was propelled through the sky.

Getting back to the battle, Ladybug leapt into the air and proceeded to beat Expandor with her baton. It felt like a waste using her weapon as though it was nothing more than a baseball bat, but she wasn't really sure what else to do with it. She preferred her yo-yo which had a multitude of uses.

"I'm back!"

Ladybug glanced to the side where Chat stood on a nearby building, leaves sticking out of his pigtailed hair.

"Nice to see you again." While distracted she accidentally extended her baton which worked in her favour as it slammed into Exandor's face. "Try finding which item the akuma is possessing."

"Right!"

Chat focused in on the enemy, trying to locate which item stood out. Expandor seemed to have gotten bored of fighting Ladybug though, turning away from her and launching his fist at Chat. Chat easily jumped out of the way in time, but that caused Expandor's boulder sized fist to smash into the building. The force of the impact caused the entire top half of the building to explode off, sending large hunks of debris in all directions.

The two heroes dodged the flying projectiles.

"This isn't good, we have to defeat him fast before he hurts someone!" Ladybug called over to her partner.

Chat nodded and continued to swing himself around Expandor looking for the object while Ladybug engaged in battle. His eyes eventually landed on Expandor's tool belt, in one of the slots was a screwdriver coloured a murky purple colour.

"His screwdriver, I think that's where the akuma is!" He shouted.

Ladybug located the screwdriver and tried to leap forward to grab it, but Expandor only had to flick his wrist to send her flying away. Chat tried to reach it as well but was also slapped away.

Chat and Ladybug pushed themselves up from the ground.

"We don't have time for this," Ladybug said, "summon Lucky Charm while I'll distract him."

Chat nodded and Ladybug dashed forward to gain the attention of Expandor. While she was doing so, Chat called upon Lucky Charm

Out of the air fell a red and black spotted can of spray paint.

"It's a can of spray paint," Chat called to Ladybug, "what should I do with it?"

"I'm" Ladybug blocked a hit from Expandor with her baton, "a little busy here. Figure something out."

"What!?" Chat was taken aback. Ladybug was always the one with the plans, not him! "He looked down at the can. "What the heck am I supposed to do with this?"

He looked back to Ladybug who was fully engaged in battle with Expandor, if he distracted her now she might get hurt.

Clenching the can in his hand, he scanned the area, and his gaze focusing in on Expandor's eyes.

Chat smirked and leapt forward. "This better work!" He called out as he made his way in front of Expandor's face. Holding out the spray can he gave it a shake and pressed down on the top. Red misty paint sprayed out all over Expandor's eyes.

The giant howled in a mixture of anger and pain, raising his arms to try and wipe at his stinging eyes.

Taking this chance, Ladybug managed to get a hold of the screwdriver and smash it. A purplish black butterfly flew out and Chat took out his yo-yo and swung it around, launching it at the akuma.

The two of them held their breath during the couple of seconds it took to purify the akuma, and when it finally flew out they both released a disappointed sigh.

Just like the butterfly sitting in Marinette's room, this one was only half white.

Ladybug quickly cupped the butterfly in her hands and waited while Chat threw the can of spray paint in the air. Millions of little butterflies exploded out of it and began swarming around the city.

They looked at each other and both let out another sigh, neither of them feeling like this situation was worthy of their signature fist bump.

"Excuse me."

Ladybug and Chat glumly looked up at a news reporter who had approached the now safe scene.

"Are you two going to fix that?"

She was pointing in the direction behind them. The duo looked to each other, confused, before looking in the direction of the lady's finger.

The building, the one Expandor had smashed, was only partly fixed. The entire top was still missing and there were chunks of it laying sprawled across the road.

They looked back to each other, this time eyes filled with panic.

"So," the news reporter asked again, "are you going to fix it?"

Her eyes were filled with confusion and expectations.

"We-we…" Chat trailed off, not sure how he was supposed to explain everything to the lady.

"We have to go!" Ladybug grabbed Chat's arm and yanked him away, using her baton to launch them into the air and away from the disappointed eyes of the public.

 **~.~.~.~.~**

"So, what are we going to do?" Adrien and Marinette had transformed back and were currently sitting outside the gates to their school. Adrien had his eyes fixed on the ground as the horrible feeling of having failed Paris tightened his chest.

Marinette put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "We just need to work harder, we'll fix all of this, don't worry."

Adrien nodded but didn't look up.

"You shouldn't worry over what you couldn't do, just how you're going to fix it in the future," Marinette continued, "for now we should focus on fixing this problem."

Adrien raised his head a little and gave her a small smile. "I guess you're right."

Marinette's cheeks flushed and she looked away.

"Anyways, we should buy a carrier for the akuma and head to class, but looking at the time we'll most definitely be late." She lowered her eyes to stare at her purse which Adrien wore. The only place they could think of putting the akuma in for the time being was in there.

Adrien gave her a thumbs up. "Don't worry, I'll take one for the team and be late for class."

"You say you're taking one for the team but you being late will go on my record, not yours," Marinette grumbled.

"Oh…right." Adrien scratched the back of his head.

"It's fine," she sighed, "don't worry about it. Just try to get back to school as quickly as possible."

"Don't worry My Lady, I will do just that." He performed a chivalrous bow to which Marinette rolled her eyes and headed towards their school.

Adrien turned and hurriedly made his way to the small store where he and Marinette had bought the bug cage for their first half purified akuma. He chose out a second cage that was identical to the one currently sitting in his room.

"Ready to go?" Tikki asked from his pouch without opening it so that the akuma couldn't fly free.

"Yeah, I just have to pay."

Adrien passed through a couple of aisles on his way to the cash, absentmindedly scanning the shelves as went by. His eyes skimmed from one item to the next. _'This really is a store that sells everything'_ he noted to himself as he took in all of the random knick-knacks being sold.

Finally, as he got to the end of one aisle his eyes moved across a particular item that made him do a double take. He stood there for a moment, unable to take his eyes off of the item, before slowly backing up so that he stood beside it.

He knew he had to quickly buy the bug cage and leave, but some unknown force was stopping him.

He looked left; nobody was there, right; empty as well, then his gaze traveled back to the shelf. He raised shaky hand and swallowed a nervous lump that was beginning to form in his throat.

Why was he feeling so nervous, it wasn't like he was doing anything wrong?

Adrien shook his head in an attempt to dispel the anxiety. Right, he was allowed to buy anything he wanted, France was a free country. He started to move his hand towards the shelf, but hesitated with his hand midair. His cheeks began to burn up and he anxiously looked to the left and right again to assure himself that the coast was clear.

"Adrien?"

He jumped at the sudden call from within Marinette's purse and without thinking, grabbed the item off of the shelf.

"Have you bought it yet?"

"I-in a second," his voice was shaky.

He powerwalked to the cashier as quickly as he could, whipping his head from side to side as he went and holding the item close to him in case there was anybody there.

Reaching the cashier felt like a milestone, all he had to do was pay and be out of there. Adrien let out a sigh of relief and dropped the contents in his arms onto the table.

"Hey," the female voice brought his attention to the cashier, "aren't you that girl from a couple of days ago?"

It took Adrien's brain a couple of second's for to process before he recognized the lady as the same cashier from when he and Marinette bought their first bug cage together.

"Oh, ya, nice to see you again?" His reply came out sounding more like a question, he wasn't really sure what he was supposed to say to a person he thought he would never see again.

The girl looked around a bit, then brought her attention back to him.

"I see you're not with your boyfriend today."

Adrien blushed slightly at the fact that she thought him and Marinette were in a relationship, but let her comment slide.

He shook his head. "No, he's at school."

"Shouldn't you be at school too?" The cashier gave him a teasing grin. "Playing hooky I see."

"No, no, of course not!" Adrien waved his hands in front of him. "I'm just picking up something for me and my…boyfriend."

The cashier laughed and looked at the items on the counter. Her smile immediately dropped as she focused in on one item in particular. Her head shot back up to stare at Adrien, then went back down to the items.

She picked up one of the items and looked at Adrien with concern on her face. As soon as Adrien realized what she was holding his face turned a bright shade of pink.

"Don't tell me your boyfriend is making you skip school to buy _this_."

Adrien turned his head to the side to avoid eye contact and squeezed his arm to try and calm himself down.

"N-no…he isn't…"

"Your boyfriend is that Agreste kid, right? I knew I recognized him from somewhere. Listen, you can't trust rich kids like him, they think they can get away with anything just because they have money."

Adrien nervously flicked his eyes to her but looked away once again when he saw her face. Being a model he was used to hearing negative remarks about himself, but he still tried to defend himself if only a little.

"He wouldn't do anything bad…" His voice came out in a nervous squeak and trailed off in the end.

"Just a couple of days ago I saw him take your wallet from you, and now he's making you buy _this!_ " The lady argued. "You shouldn't let him walk all over you or order you around, and you definitely shouldn't let him do weird things with you," she glanced down at the item in her hand as she said that. "If he ever makes you feel uncomfortable, don't be afraid to say no."

Adrien's blush intensified and his mouth gaped open, this lady was seriously misinterpreting everything.

"Uhh…" it took him a moment to find his words, "thanksfortheadviceIhavetogotoschoolnowbye!"

He slapped down more than enough money for what he way buying, grabbed the bug carrier and his personal item from the lady's hands, then turned on his heels and ran out of the store. He continued to run for a couple of blocks until he finally let himself sow down and take a deep breath of relief.

"What was that about?"

Adrien jumped as he saw Tikki poke her head out of Marinette's purse, holding onto the akuma.

"NOTHING!" Adrien shoved his item behind his back and help out the bug carrier. "Here!"

Tikki looked up at him for a couple of seconds and it took all of his effort to make himself not look guilty. She eventually gave up and guided the akuma into the bug carrier, locking it safely in place.

"You should hurry to school," Tikki commented and Adrien nodded in reply.

He first stopped by Marinette's house, dropping off the bug carrier next to the first akuma and shoving the item he bought behind some drawers on Marinette's desk, just in case anybody came in.

With that, he left for school prepared for the lecture he would face for being an hour late.

* * *

 **I'm not dead and I haven't dropped this story! It's been what, 8 months? I'm so sorry to everyone for making you wait so long for this chapter update as life has been super busy. On a good note, this semester of school is almost over and then I'll have a little over a month off for exams and Christmas vacation where I can hopefully get a lot of writing done. I have everything planned out until the end for this story, it's just that I've been having trouble finding time to write.**

 **As always, if you have any suggestions of funny things you think should happen just tell me in the comments and I'll see if I can add it into the story.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this update, and have a great day!**


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